Harry Potter and the Homecoming
by BolshevikMuppet99
Summary: Book 1 of the Downward Spiral Saga:After being raised in an orphanage, Harry Potter is visited by his new headmaster and brought into the world of magic. How will an abused Harry fare in this new world? Slytherin!Harry, Eventual Dark!Harry, Sequel is up! HP and Salazar's Legacy
1. Prologue

**AN: I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO HARRY POTTER, ITS WORLD, LOCATIONS, CREATURES, CHARACTERS, SPELLS, OR INDEED ANYTHING CREATED BY J K ROWLING OR WARNER BROTHERS. I MAKE NO MONEY OFF THIS**

 **I plan on updating at least once a week, however depending on school, work, and my personal life that may drop to every two weeks or even less. I will let you guys know what's going on if anything changes.**

 **I have no Beta. If you want to fill that gaping void in my life, PM me, please.**

 **THIS BOOK, AS WELL AS THE ITS SEQUELS WILL CONTAIN -MENTION AND MEMORIES OF CHILD ABUSE (PHYSICAL, SEXUAL, AND EMOTIONAL), GRAPHIC TORTURE, GRAPHIC MURDER, PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL AND VERBAL VIOLENCE. I WILL TRY PUT WARNINGS ON PARTICULARLY GRAPHIC CHAPTERS.**

 **THIS WILL EVENTUALLY BE AN EXTREMELY DARK/EVIL HARRY STORY. IT WILL STILL TAKE A BIT OF TIME UNTIL WE GET TO THAT POINT, BUT IT'S ON THE WAY.**

 **THIS STORY WILL NOT HAVE BASHING, IN THE CLASSICAL SENSE. I MEAN BY THAT, THERE WILL BE NO EVIL DUMBLEDORE, MANIPULATING HARRY AWAY INTO THE PERFECT WEAPON, OR HERMIONE WHO IS CONVINCED SHES BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE. IT IS HOWEVER, FOR THE MOST PART, FROM HARRY'S P.O.V, AND HE SEES THE WORST OF MANY OF THE CHARACTERS.**

 **A word on pairings: As of writing this, the main pairing is not completely set. I know who I would like it to be, but I am having second thoughts. It will most probably NOT be slash, although some secondary/background pairings will be. No matter what I decide about the pairings, I assure you it will NOT be HP/LV or HP/TMR. If that is what you're looking for, this is not the story for you.**

' _content' —_ Thoughts

 _ **Content**_ _—_ In story books

"$ _content$"—_ Parseltongue

 **Please review!**

 **Thanks for reading**

Prologue:

The residents of Privet Drive woke up one Wednesday morning to a startled shriek. The shriek was emanating from the stick-like figure of Petunia Dursley. She stood there in her bathrobe, looking down upon, what with closer inspection seemed to be a baby in a basket! Perhaps sensing the neighbors prying eyes, the basket was hurriedly rushed inside.

Unbeknownst to the rest of Privet Drive, the baby inside this basket was perhaps the most famous one-year-old child in the world. However, even if this baby's name was told directly to them, the denizens of this street would remain blissfully unaware of who exactly he was. The names James and Lily Potter were meaningless to them and would remain that way.

Inside the perfectly organized, neat house, an argument was occurring. The object of this argument was currently crying, while his pudgy overfed cousin poked and prodded him. "Petunia, I don't care what the letter said, I refuse to have one of them in our house! What if..."

" Vernon, you know I don't want him here, but we may be in danger if we don't take him" "WE'RE IN DANGER IF WE DO!"

"Shhhh! We don't want to scare Dudders"

"Think of what it would be like if we kept the freak- With who-knows-what after him, with his unnatural goings-on, think of how that would scare Dudley Pet".

Petunia breathed in, perhaps too sharply. She felt deep pain, but also rage. Her sister, dear little Lily was dead. And now she, with her lovely normal husband and her lovely normal son and her lovely normal lifewould be saddled with her sister's freakish son. She couldn't take it. How could they expect this of her? Vernon was right, it would be terrible for her Duddy-kins to have to be around _him._

"What can we do with him, Vernon?"

"We'll take him to an orphanage, let them take care of him, what are our taxes going to otherwise".

"But Vern dear, what if they come back?"

"We'll deal with that then."

With that, the Dursleys and Harry Potter left 4 Privet Drive. 500 Miles away, an oddly shaped silver instrument began to whirr and let off a plume of smoke in the office of Albus Dumbledore. In less than 24 hours since their erection, the Blood Wards around 4 Privet Drive had fallen.

* * *

It was the next day. The Dursleys had settled back into their normal routine, opting to forget all about the bit of unpleasantness that had bothered them, and instead had a remarkably ordinary day. Vernon had shouted at several underlings and sucked up to several overlings. Petunia had watered the begonias while discretely observing the family that lived in number 10. She was sure that Mr. Peterson drank, she just had to continue compiling evidence. The way he winced at the sun this morning, added to the bags under his eyes and his 5 o'clock shadow seemed to hint at that. Dudley had a wonderful day, he managed to hit one of balmy Mrs. Figg's cats with a tennis ball ("Little rascal has a good arm on him") and had a tantrum until Petunia gave him a third ice lolly. The day was excellent until an unexpected visitor interrupted their dinner.

It was approximately 7 o'clock when the doorbell rang.

"Get the door please dear, I'm just bathing Duddy" Petunia called out from upstairs.

Putting aside his newspaper, Vernon shouted "Hold on, be there in a minute" as he struggled out of his armchair, his face purpling from the effort. When he opened the door, his brain took a few minutes to comprehend what he was seeing. He just stood there, wide-eyed.

"Good evening," Albus Dumbledore said cheerily, "From your slack-jawed expression I will assume you were not expecting me".

From inside the house, above the sound of a boisterous child came a voice "Vernon? Who's there?" Vernon couldn't seem to answer.

"Let us pretend you have invited me in, I shall only take a few minutes of your time and then I shall be off"

Vernon stood mutely by as the tall man strode into his house. After several seconds he walked back in, just remembering to shut the door behind him.

"Petunia dear" he called in a strangely high-pitched voice, "come here".

"One-minute dear, just finishing up…"

"Now!" He seemed to have regained his composure, and his voice was returning to his normal tones.

Petunia hurried down the steps, thinking to herself about what could have gotten her husband into such a state, not allowing herself to think of the obvious situation-Them. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of a tall man, dressed in a velvet blue robe with half-moons on it. What's more, he had a beard down to his waist.

"Who the ruddy hell are you, and why are you in my house?" Vernon had been meaning for it to come out as an intimidating growl, but his intrusive thoughts seemed to have transformed it into a squeak.

"Ah, I apologize for my rudeness, I am Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts." Petunia and Vernon looked at each other as the man continued

"We communicated once, Petunia" at this,

Vernon seemed extremely shocked "Pet? What?"

"But enough about old times. I am here because apparently, Harry is not."

At this, Petunia and Vernon glanced at each other again. Petunia paled, while Vernon seemed to be drawing all his strength to himself.

"Of course he isn't! We didn't ask for him, we didn't want him, we had no desire to-" "Where did you take him?" Albus still seemed calm, even in the face of Vernon's outburst. A careful onlooker, however, would be able to notice the twinkle having disappeared from his eyes.

"He's in an orphanage, in London. Where he should have gone in the first place might I say" "Did you read the letter I wrote you?" Albus' words cut right through the other man's speech.

"Well, of course, we did, but that still doesn't mean-"

"Then you should be aware that many followers of the man who killed your sister and brother-in-law are still at large, and that they may bear a grudge against any member of your nephews family" a pregnant silence followed these words, unhurriedly, Albus continued "You would also know that your nephews presence here would allow wards to be maintained which would protect your family against magical harm."

"Now you listen here! The only reason we would be in danger in the first place is because of him! It seems to me, that the smartest thing to do would be to get him as far away from us as we could and—"

"And the fact that you are his only surviving family means nothing to you?"

"He's one of you!" Petunia's shrill voice rose, slicing straight through the previous words "A freak! He shouldn't be with normal people, polluting us and spreading his freakishness and bizarreness around us. If he must be with normal people, at least my family and those I care about will not be exposed to his aberrant madness!"

Albus pinched the bridge of his nose, weary beyond what he had thought possible. "Very well then. You will not be bothered again."

He turned to leave, Petunia breathing harshly, Vernon appearing surprised by how well it had turned out. Framed by the doorway, without turning his head, Dumbledore spoke to the Dursleys one last time "If, and I hope this always remains just an if, those who despise your very existence ever come after you, I will still oppose them with every ounce of strength I possess. You should pray that your nephew feels the same way" With that, Albus Dumbledore left the Dursleys to their normal life.

* * *

"Minerva", was that Albus' voice, she wondered to herself? She'd known him for many, many years, throughout war and peace, but had never heard him sound so defeated as he did right now.

"Minerva, please gather up some of the crowd, Mundungus, Sturgis perhaps."

Now fear was coursing through her.

"What is it Albus, surely it isn't _him_?"

"No, no no. I'm sorry to have frightened you. Harry Potter has been placed in a muggle orphanage. I just want the place watched for the next while. Just until things calm down at least. After that, we can check in on him at monthly intervals or so."

Her first thought was to tell Albus she had told him so, leaving The-Boy-Who-Lived with such horrific muggles as the Dursleys could never have come to anything good. Instead, she just said, "Certainly Albus, where is this orphanage?"


	2. Chapter 1

**ALAS, I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO HARRY POTTER**

 **PLEASE REVIEW**

 **THANKS FOR READING**

Chapter One: A Reminiscent Meeting

Albus Dumbledore had long hated muggle orphanages. Any orphanage would be bad enough, (even though the British wizarding world did not have any functioning orphanages), but ever since Tom Riddle, going to meet a young witch or wizard in an orphanage was tainted in his eyes. Therefore, it was a task that he usually delegated. Today, however, that would not be an option, no matter how enthusiastic Hagrid was. He was dressed in his muggle best, although he was still receiving stares ' _the beard perhaps'_ he mused to himself ' _they don't seem to be much in fashion amongst the muggles anymore'._ Arriving at his destination, he shuddered to himself, always these buildings seemed to be made to exude ugliness and pain. A squat, brick-grey building, surrounded by dead grass and withering trees, it really did not inspire happiness. ' _At least Harry seems to have done well up to this point in school, and no serious trouble has been reported'_. As he was about to enter the building, a troubling thought slyly whispered to him ' _they may have been too frightened to report anything'_. Dismissing his worries he strode into the place. Immediately he was greeted by the sight of two young children in brownish smocks running and giggling as a harassed looking women entered the room they had just left. "Excuse me miss, I'm looking for a Mrs. Spruce?" The girl goggled at his appearance for a second, before giving her head a minute shake and muttering something under her breath. Then she said all in one breath giving the appearance that the words were racing each other to get out " 'er office is right through there sir, 'ave you seen two young'uns come through 'ere?"

"They went straight on through, thank you", following her raised arm, he headed off towards the offices. "What's that?" was the Matrons response to the knock on her office door. ' _Charming, this should go so well'_ he thought to himself ' _strange, I am usually far less cynical, must be this horrid place'_ , gathering his thoughts he entered her office, closing the door behind him. Mrs. Spruce, a stout, stern looking woman didn't even look up as he entered "Evelyn, I have so much to do right now, just put the files down and go check on Robert….".

" I am sorry for the interruption, but I am not Evelyn" at this the woman looked up and looked totally confused. Before she even had a chance to speak, Albus continued "My name is Professor Dumbledore, I run a very ah, select school in Scotland, I am here to speak with you about one Harry Potter?" By now, she had recovered her composure, although she seemed rather confused about the turn of conversation ' _Is that nervousness in her eyes? Oh, please let it not be so'_

"What about him? What's this school you're talking about? How do you even know of him?"

' _It always comes to this, I always get the clever ones'_ handing her a blank piece of paper with a minor enchantment on it, he told her "this should explain everything".

After a few seconds of looking at the paper, she cleared her throat "Well, that all seems to be in order. What were you looking to find out?"

' _And here we find out if I really should be worried or not'_ , "I'm just interested in hearing about Harry's childhood, friends, strange occurrences, all that".

"Ah, well then, let me think, I don't think Harry ever had any close friends. In fact, he had trouble with the other children for a long time"

"Trouble?" Albus asked, appearing very calm, but inside a pit of dread was beginning to form, he knew how this story went ' _I knew I should have taken a more active role in checking in on him, I knew we should have done more than check in once every few weeks and speak to his teachers'_.

"Oh yes", Mrs. Spruce answered, unaware of the turmoil going on in her guest's mind "You know how kids are, they pick on one another, they sometimes seem to want nothing more than to make someone else's life more miserable than their own, poor mites"

"And you did nothing to stop this?"

Had the matron not been lost in recollection, she would have noticed the bit of steel entering Dumbledore's voice. "No, it was never something that we could see. And Harry would always deny that he was being hurt by the other kids, his bruises and cuts were from falling down he would say, he didn't know who took his bedclothes he would tell us". She took a deep breath, and an expression of fear seemed to cross her face for an instant "That all stopped by the time he was eight".

"Oh? What happened?" ' _I will never forgive myself, how could I have done this? Have I turned the Chosen-one into Tom?'_

She looked at him very sharply "I'm not crazy, I have to say that before telling you anything" "I would never think you were".

She breathed in, very deeply again "Strange, strange things started happening. Started when he was around seven. He would be crying and bruised, and something—a vase, a cup would explode. Then he would stop crying. Bruises and cuts which should have taken days, if not weeks to heal were gone by the next day. Reuben Slide's bed caught fire, and nothing else around it was burnt". She seemed almost terrified about what she was going to say next "But the bullying only stopped when Joseph died" She seemed to cut off in the middle of the sentence there, and Albus was quick to pick up on it

"Joseph?"

"Joseph Walten. We believe he was the ringleader of the children who terrified Harry. He was an older boy, had ended up here from an extremely abusive and violent home. He had gotten a lot more blatant since these odd things had started happening, blaming Harry for them, Saying he was a freak or a devil. We caught him bullying Harry a few times during that time, and I don't even like to think of those scenes. We punished him harshly, of course, and did everything we could to make sure they weren't alone together, but it's impossible for the staff to be everywhere all the time. One night Harry was beaten very, very badly. Almost too badly for the nurse to take care of. Three days later, Harry was all healed. The nurse swore it should have taken him a month. That night, Joseph tripped at the top of the stairs. He broke his neck in the fall. Harry was never bullied again".

' _What have I done? Oh James, Lily, forgive me. I made your son into a murderer. Self-defense perhaps, but he killed. What have I done?'_ By now, the dread in Albus' stomach was feeling more and more like someone had dropped a concrete bowling ball there. And was now alternating between using heating and freezing charms on it. But the woman did not seem to be finished. "And then there was the horrible business with Mr. Roberts".

"Mr. Roberts?" ' _Oh no, there can't be much more of this'_.

"He was a handyman who used to work here. There were fears amongst the staff that he may have been a bit too _physical_ with the children if you get my drift?"

' _What hell have I put Harry through? He may have been better off with those monstrous relatives of his'_ "Speaking as an educational professional, I must hope that serious action was taken against this man" these calm words, spoken with acid behind them seemed to cut through the matron's haze of memories

"Listen here! We are severely understaffed and underfunded. We were watching him, speaking to the children we believed affected, and trying to get any of them to come forward so we could contact the police. None of them would, until Harry did"

"Harry came forwards about him?"

"Yes. I wish I could forget that entire event" her face had a look of severe pain and distaste on it "Harry came to speak to me, about six months after Joseph's death. He was crying and kept saying how he did something bad. I admit, my first thought went to Joseph. But then he told me that Mr. Roberts spoke to Harry privately and that Harry did 'something bad'. We never found out from him what that something bad was, but he eventually admitted that Mr. Roberts was physical with him"

"What else happened?" Albus feared the answer, but he had to know. He had to.

"Mr. Roberts hung himself that same night."

There was an extremely uncomfortable silence until Albus broke it "Did anything else of note occur in Harry's childhood?"

"Well, he was adopted. The Welhearts, lovely family. They brought him back after a week, said he was possessed by the devil" Mrs. Spruce looked at her guest carefully, he seemed lost in thought ' _Goddamnit, I had to open my big mouth. I've scared him off now. Why did I feel like I had to say all that? Please God, let him just take that Potter boy off my hands. There's just something profoundly disturbing about that child'_ "I don't mean to paint a bad picture" trying to recover from all the terrible things she had spewed "Harry is generally a wonderful child. He's extremely polite, very bright boy-He skipped a grade and would possibly skip next years if he doesn't go to your school. He's not particularly unfriendly, but he prefers to read. He's happy to help around the place."

"I'm not surprised" ' _Lily's mind, that's for sure. I wonder how he would do with children his age who aren't terrified of him? James was extremely social'_ "Would I be able to meet with him? If now isn't a good time, I will be happy to return later" Albus said, knowing full well that according to his most recent information on the orphanage, Harry should be available right then.

"Oh certainly, certainly. His bedroom is upstairs, he's most probably reading there. It should be private enough, his roommates are usually out playing football or something of the sort at this time"

As Albus followed Mrs. Spruce through the orphanage to the staircase, he had the opportunity to witness her in action. "Jason, Will! No running in the hallways" "Madeleine, excellent, take that soup to Steven please" "Richard, did you take your medicine this morning?" She certainly seemed on top of things. ' _It's truly a pity they are so understaffed and poor as she said. The world would be much brighter if this place could be brightened up…'_ Lost in his musings, Albus almost missed the fact that she had stopped outside of a door on the second floor. He drew himself back together as she knocked, and followed her into the bedroom. "Harry dear, there's a professor Dumbledore here to speak to you" ' _remarkable, most muggles can't pronounce my name correctly'_. But Albus' thoughts were cut off at the sight of the boy sitting cross-legged on the bed before him. He was so momentarily entranced that he did not even notice the stout matron leave. The boy was sitting on a bed against the wall, just below a large oval window. There were some books scattered before him, an eclectic range from a physics textbook to a Batman comic book. But what so grabbed Albus' attention was the boy's physical appearance. Not the scrawny and thin figure no, not the glasses perched on his nose and seemingly held together by pure luck. Not even the famous scar poking out from the mess of hair. It was just how clearly his parents lived on in Harry that shook Albus for a second. ' _Exactly as everyone claimed. Looks just like James, but Lily's eyes'_ But James never sat in such a way that made him seem as small as possible ' _a common defensive mechanism among such children, probably totally unconscious'_ and Lily never had such wariness in her beautiful emerald eyes.

"Harry, my name is Professor Albus Dumbledore, I'm here to speak to you about whether or not you would like to come to my school"

Harry seemed extremely cautious as he politely asked: "What type of school would that be sir?"

A ghost of a memory long gone spoke in Albus' head ' _the asylum, that's where you're from isn't it?!'_ ' _Shut up! This is not Tom!'_ "Hogwarts is a very special school, one you have been put down since from birth" Albus saw the minute changes in Harry's expression as his feelings changed from fear to utter, total confusion ' _very practiced at schooling his face'_ he noted almost clinically "It is a school for people exactly like you. It is a school of magic". Harry looked up, very sharply, his face still mostly blank but the corners or his lips curving up slightly "Magic?" he whispered.

"Yes, magic. You have noticed yourself making strange, unexplained things occur haven't you?"

"Magic" Harry repeated, almost to himself his eyes distant "I knew there was something" He looked straight at Albus, clearly unable to contain his grin from spreading "Yes sir. I have noticed".

' _And here we see how grounded my worries are'_ "And what Harry, have you noticed exactly?" Albus spoke calmly, seeming interested in-fact, masking the worry that writhed within him as he waited for the answer. Unbidden, the voice spoke in his mind again _'I can make them hurt if I want to'_

"Strange things would happen when I would get angry or scared sir. And I would always feel this rush of energy when that happened" Harry still seemed to be processing the news that he was capable of using magic. His body had begun to shake a little, as if full of nervous energy and his face was glowing with joy. "I knew it. I knew there was something about them" He spoke to himself, Albus watching carefully, his fears shaking within him "Sir?" Harry asked, "None of the other children here can do magic, can they?"

"Not as far as I am aware, and as Headmaster of the primary magical school in Britain I would be". Still watching Harry, Albus noticed the second something important crossed Harry's mind "Sir, you said I have been put down for this school since birth?"

"Yes Harry", knowing where this was going, but unable, and truthfully unwilling to prevent it from going there Albus waited for the inevitable next question

"So who put me down for it? My parents can't have cared much for me or they wouldn't have just abandoned me here, and I have no other family".

A sharp pain shot straight through Albus' heart at those words ' _James, Lily, I hope you forgive me for what I did, for I can never forgive myself'_

"Harry, your parents loved you very much. They were"

He was cut off as Harry interrupted angrily, standing up, his nostrils flaring and his eyes looking suspiciously wet ' _this is something that has been burning within him for a long time, let him move through it'_ "Where are they? If they loved me so much, why did they leave me here? Why did they put me in this, in this _place_? Do they know what my life has been like? Do they even care?" Tears were running down his cheeks, he lifted a hand to rub them away and abruptly blinked. "I'm sorry sir that was rude and uncalled for". He sat back down on his bed, his whole body shaking as he rubbed his eyes.

Albus made a motion to take Harry's other hand, but the boy flinched and pulled his hand back. ' _You utter fool, of course, he would not want physical contact, think before you act'_. "Harry", he said gently, causing the boy to look back at him and make an effort to stifle his snuffling "Your parents did not simply abandon you. They were murdered"

Harry's eyes went wide, and his body stopped all movement. "What?"

"They were murdered. They died attempting to save you"

Harry tried to speak a few times, but his voice seemed to catch in his throat each time. Eventually, he managed to get out "Please sir, tell me more".

"Very well. This is a sad, sad tale. There was a wizard who went bad. As bad as any wizard could go. His name was Tom Riddle, but when he started his terrorist organization-the Death Eaters- He began going by Lord Voldemort"

"Vol-de.."

"Voldemort. The majority of the wizarding world is still afraid to speak his name. He was evil Harry. Killing, torturing, kidnapping-He incited a war within the wizarding world."

"Why? What did he want?".

"That Harry, is a very complex question. He hated muggles that is, non-magic people, and felt that Muggle-borns, those are wizard and witches whose parents are muggles, should not be considered the same as those who hail from strong wizarding stock".

"Why did he kill my parents? Were they muggles sir?"

' _Very quick child, barely stuttering over totally new terms to him'_ "No, no. They were not. Your father was the heir to an ancient and powerful wizarding family, and your mother, though a Muggle-born was an extremely talented and powerful witch. He killed your parents because they fought against him in the war".

"You said they died trying to save me, sir?"

' _I cannot tell him about the prophecy. Not at this stage. I've harmed him enough already'_ "Your mother's body was found just in front of your crib, your father had apparently attempted to block him from getting to your room. But Voldemort was a most powerful and brilliant wizard, and very, very few even stood a chance of surviving a fight with him".

"And then sir? He just left after killing them?"

Albus took a moment to observe Harry before answering. His face was flushed, and his eyes still watery, but frankly he seemed far less emotional than he should be. Not quite the blank-faced boy he had been at the very start of the conversation, but still, there should have been—something more showing after hearing about his parent's deaths. Perhaps the boy actually preferred this to thinking that his parents had simply abandoned him. A small internal shudder rippled through him. "Then Harry, a very strange thing happened. Voldemort cast a curse at you-The Killing Curse to be precise. Nothing short of a physical barrier can block it. No-one in history has ever survived it. Until you. Somehow, the curse rebounded off you, giving you that particular scar" here Albus raised his hand to point at the scar in question, and again Harry flinched back, almost imperceptibly this time ' _How much has this boy been damaged if he is this fearful of physical contact?'_ , "the curse rebounded upon its caster, tearing Lord Voldemort free of his body, and vanquishing him. In one night, you Harry, won the war for us".

"I … what?"

"It is a matter of great debate whether Voldemort was actually killed, but leaving that aside, suddenly his group was missing their leader, their general and strategist, and their most powerful and overwhelming fighter. With him gone, many people who were under trances of his control came out of them and were able to give us information. Many on their side became too afraid to keep fighting. We won because of you. And that is why Harry, there is not a single witch or wizard in Britain, in fact in the whole Europe who does not know your name."

Harry looked totally flabbergasted. "I'm… famous?" Albus gave a brief chuckle.

"Harry, the wizarding world as a whole views you as their savior. They call you the boy-who-lived. You are extremely famous. I expect you will be a source of major stares when you head into wizarding areas".

Harry looked extremely uncomfortable by this idea. There were a few minutes of silence as Harry was allowed to digest this news. Albus saw the light in Harry's eyes as the obvious question must have occurred to him. ' _Here it comes Albus. Be careful, he will likely hate you for this. Not that you deserve any different'_. "Sir," Harry sounded extremely hesitant, almost as if he knew this subject was not going to leave either of them happy, "If I'm so famous, and so well loved, why was I left here? Was there no wizarding family prepared to take me in?"

Albus heaved a great sigh. "Harry, my dear boy. I am so deeply sorry, but the fault for that lies with me". Harry looked completely shocked, not just at the answer but at the honesty inherent in it. "You must understand the atmosphere after you defeated Voldemort Harry, it is crucial to your understanding this. On that fateful Halloween, it was clear to all of us that we would win the war. However, we also knew that we would never be able to round up all the Death Eaters. Too many of them had kept their activities totally secret. Many of their identities were known only to Voldemort himself". Harry looked like he wanted to ask something, and Albus stopped talking for a second when the boy simply bit his lower lip and looked thoughtful ' _is that rage hiding in his eyes? Where is the fire from earlier?'_ he continued "It was obvious that you would be in danger. They would come after you, whether from a desire for revenge or some misguided attempt to restore their master, they would come". Albus found himself lost in memories of that time for half a second, "In fact, four days after Halloween, two Aurors-wizarding police- were kidnapped and tortured into insanity. The torturers were searching for the whereabouts of Voldemort-and you Harry". Harry gulped, never removing his intent eyes from Albus' worn face.

"The solution was obvious-to-me at least. You had to be placed somewhere where you would be safe from the Death Eaters, and where no-one would know where you were. Hence, it was decided you would be brought up by muggles. Our first idea fell through, as the family you would have been placed with were unable to raise another child. And so, you were placed here." ' _Best not to tell him too much about that first family. If he doesn't already hate muggles that would definitely push him along the road'_. "I attempted to protect you, as much as could be. Wards were placed on the building that would inform me the instant magic was used here. Guards, people I trust deeply, checked in on you discretely every so often" ' _Definitely rage there. Pain too. Quickly Albus, explain yourself!' "_ My original plans were slightly different. A ward was originally placed upon you that would inform me the instant violence happened to you. It was a foolish idea"

"Foolish how sir? That sounds like it would have been amazing to me!" His voice rising shrilly by the end of it, Albus was quick to go on "every time you were spanked, every time you were taken to a physician for an injection, every time a friend played roughly with you, I was alerted. By the time you were two, the ward was summoning me three or four times a day. I had no choice but to remove it". Harry leaned back, with an air that said although he would accept that answer, he was not satisfied with it. "Originally, you were being observed twenty-four hours a day. However, after approximately a year, questions started to be asked of my… associates who were watching you. Remember Harry, this had to be kept as secret as we possibly could keep it. For every additional person who joined your 'guard', we risked a greater possibility of a Death Eater finding out, or worse, accidentally recruiting a secret Death Eater!" Harry looked up at Dumbledore seriously, looking like he was going to say something harsh. He stopped when he saw the tears slowly leaking out of the old wizard's eyes. "Harry, I wish I had made any other decision. I truly, truly do. I never knew how bad your life was here, and I should have. I know you may not be able to forgive me, and I accept that, but I beg you to try to understand that I was trying to keep you safe." Harry seemed totally taken aback by this, lost for words, he just looked down at the floor. "And I want to assure you, that the suffering you have experienced in this place is not tolerated at all in Hogwarts, neither from the teachers nor from your fellow students."

Looking to move the subject away from this dangerous territory of his past, Harry asked "So, I'm in the school, Sir? But what about fees? I don't have any money and…"

"Harry, Harry, Harry. Your parents were rather wealthy you know. Their gold is still all intact at the wizarding bank. And of course, you are in, provided you wish to come?"

"How could I not Sir?"

"Of course. Of course. Well then Harry, here is your official Hogwarts letter, included in it is your school lists. Would you like me to accompany you to shop? I would be more than willing…"

Scanning the paper of his required shopping, Harry's eyes were wide as Galleons (not that he would know what those were yet) "No thanks sir, I can manage on my own. But would you be able to tell me where I can find this stuff? I don't think I've ever seen a cauldron for a sale before! And definitely not a wand!"

Chuckling, Albus began to describe to Harry how to get to Diagon Alley. "And I would advise you to go to Ollivanders and get your wand first Harry, that can take some time"

Albus was just standing up to leave when Harry, in an extremely hesitant tone asked him "Sir? Uh, do you think you could tell me a bit about the wizarding world? All the other kids are gonna have such a head start on me, I don't want to be staring at perfectly ordinary magical sights"

"Certainly Harry. I wouldn't say all the kids, after all, there are plenty of other muggle-born and raised children at Hogwarts, but you raise a fine point. Now, Hogwarts was founded approximately…"

And so Albus began to introduce Harry Potter, only child of James and Lily Potter to the world of magic, a world in which, if there was any true justice, he would never have been forced to miss out on. As Albus lectured, he thought to himself about how well this meeting had gone, and he thanked the fates that Harry was not furious with him. So caught up in his joy was he, that he totally missed out the deep wells of bitterness and rage hidden far within those striking Emerald eyes.

 **AN: AND THAT'S A CHAPTER. NEXT UP, DIAGON ALLEY, MAKING FRIENDS, GRINGOTTS, AND GETTING A WAND.**

 **FOR THOSE WHO ARE WORRIED ABOUT HARRY BEING A TOM RIDDLE V2.0, I ASSURE YOU THIS IS NOT THE CASE. VOLDEMORT IS A PSYCHOPATH, HARRY IS NOT. HARRY FEELS REMORSE WHEN HE DOES SOMETHING WRONG, VOLDEMORT DOES NOT. HARRY FEELS EMPATHY, VOLDEMORT DOES NOT. YOU WILL UNDERSTAND WHAT I MEAN FURTHER FROM NEXT CHAPTER, ONCE WE GET HARRY'S P.O.V**

 **ALSO, LET ME KNOW IF YOU WOULD LIKE CHAPTERS TO BE ROUGHLY THIS LENGTH, OR LONGER OR SHORTER. P.M. AND REVIEWS GUYS.**


	3. Chapter 2

**AN: IF I ACTUALLY OWNED HARRY POTTER, I WOULD HAVE A MUCH BETTER LAPTOP. AND HAVE WAY MORE TIME TO WRITE FANFICTION.**

 **IN THIS CHAPTER, MANY DESCRIPTIONS, SENTENCES, AND LINES ARE COPIED DIRECTLY FROM HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S (SORCEROR'S) STONE.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW. I NEED YOUR CRITICISM TO IMPROVE.**

 **ENJOY**

Chapter two: Making friends

Harry woke up shortly before the light began streaming over his bed. He was feeling a strange emotion, one that he hadn't experienced in a while. It took him a bit of time before he was able to place it—He was feeling excited for the future. ' _Well, why not? I'm going to be with my own kind!'_ Looking over at the sleeping forms of his roommates, he barely was able to stifle a snort of derision. ' _They're just going to be ordinary'._ Harry was glad he had asked Dumbledore what time the Leaky Cauldron opened. ' _Remember, if there was any useful advice Dumbledore gave me, it was get the wand first after the bank. He said it could take hours! I want time to get books and read, I need to learn more about what I've missed'_. Getting out of bed in a hurry (he couldn't just ignore his bladder any longer), Harry headed to the loo. Coming out of the bathroom, he carried on wiping the sleep out of his eyes as his pondered what to wear. He didn't want to stick out too much, and all he had was muggle clothing. He remembered how Dumbledore had dressed the previous day and snorted ' _I can't possibly stick out more in the wizarding world than he does in the muggle world. Someone should really tell him that those clothes were not meant to be together'_. Someone should tell him, but it certainly wouldn't be Harry. He just wanted to avoid the ancient wizard at least until he had sorted out his feelings regarding the man. Whenever he thought of him his thoughts became a kind of schizophrenic tug-of war. On the one hand he detested the man for leaving him in the orphanage. On the other hand, he could logically understand what had led him to do so, and couldn't really blame him for it. Add to that the hatred for never telling him about his heritage, and the happiness that he had come to rescue him, and Harry's mind was all a great jumble. Shaking his head, Harry simply selected his old pair of jeans, the blue so faded it was almost white, and a greying t-shirt with a hole that he had received the last time the orphanage got some "new" clothes donated. ' _Don't need anything else do I? I've got my vault key-oddly shaped thing it is, have a few pounds, and the directions. Time to go!'_

The walk wasn't bad. It was only about a twenty minute distance, and it gave Harry time to try calm himself down. Finding the Leaky Cauldron wasn't difficult at all ' _Gotta hand it to Dumbledore, he knows how to give directions'._ Exactly as he had said, the muggles seemed not even to notice the small pub, their eyes flowing from the store before it to the one after it. ' _They don't know at all.'_ Harry marvelled to himself ' _they don't know that a far better world lies just through there'_. He pushed open the door, strode in, and let the door close behind him.

The Leaky Cauldron was an extremely comfortable place, Harry felt immediately. Whether it was the dimly lit atmosphere, caused by the candlelit lamps floating around the room, or the casual magic occurring in it, Harry felt at home.

He walked over to the bar, which an elderly man was engrossed in wiping down, not even paying attention the glasses behind him which were cleaning themselves.

"Excuse me, sir, I was told to ask Tom to open the way to Diagon Alley for me?"

The man looked up "I'm Tom, and you must be a muggle-born right?"

Harry was about to answer, although what he was going to say he wasn't sure of yet, when Tom's eyes suddenly widened, and he straightened up so suddenly Harry thought he would hear the old man's back creak.

"Merlin's beard! Can it be? Harry Potter?"

At this, the one other patron in the pub turned around from his corner table so quickly his chair creaked against the floor.

"Yes sir, my name is Harry Potter"

"Mr. Potter, I can't tell you what an honor it is to have you in my pub, we've all been waiting for you to come into our world, all the wonder about you these years-"

Harry was feeling distinctly uncomfortable. ' _Goddamnit. Is this how everyone is going to react to me?'_

"Thank you, sir, that's very kind. I'm honored to be here"

' _He looks like he's about to faint. And that other guy doesn't seem to notice his pipe has gone out'_

Harry shifted nervously "Sorry sir, but could you please show me how to get into the Alley? I have a lot of shopping to do—"

"Oh yes, of course! You're here early, usually, people only start showing up in another two or three hours"

Harry gave a nice fake laugh "Well, I wanted to avoid the crowds and get things done early…"

"Well, follow me". Harry did just that, and Tom led him out through the back door, to a small garden and a brick wall. Harry looked at Tom quizzically as he walked up to the wall and pulled out a wand.

"Now remember this –Two up, and three across" He tapped the bricks in question, and the wall opened! Harry couldn't keep the surprise off his face.

Tom gave a chuckle, "It's always great seeing the faces of young witches and wizards their first time here".

"Thank you very much, sir. Could you please point me to the bank, Gringotts I think it's called?"

"You see that large white marble building? That's Gringotts. Be polite to them, the goblins are very touchy"

' _Oh no, I was planning on insulting them and their mothers. Good God, why do people think I don't have common sense?'_ "Thank you, sir, I'll bear that in mind".

With that, Harry walked off into the wizarding world, and Tom headed back to his pub, talking to himself "Harry Potter. What a polite young boy".

Walking up to Gringott's was an experience for Harry. The shops were all so different to anything he had ever seen before—Shops selling broomsticks, potion supplies and robes. There were restaurants, bookstores, pet stores and more. Everything was eye-catching and dazzling. The signs were changing as he watched them, the pictures moving about, and the umbrellas outside some of the cafes opening on their own. It was brilliant. Harry longed to just stop and stare, but he quashed that desire and carried on moving purposefully to the towering white building. ' _I wonder what exactly goblins look like? I guess I'll see any minute now'_.

As he reached the splendid bank, he did indeed see what Goblins look like. They seemed to be shorter than him, with very pointed faces, dressed impeccably in suits, and they had incredibly long fingers. They bowed to him as he walked through the large double-doors of Gringott's. ' _I could definitely get used to that. That's great customer service that is'_.

The inside looked very similar to pictures Harry had seen of old muggle banks. Rows and rows of long tables, with lines of tellers working at them. Counting, weighing and measuring, it seemed exactly like an old muggle bank. Except for the small fact that none of the tellers were humans, and none of the things they were counting seemed to be pounds, or indeed any currency that Harry was aware of. He saw jewels, gems, and precious metals being weighed up, and entranced by the sight as he was, Harry was just starting to wonder who he should speak to when he heard a very cold voice coming from behind him.

"Can I help you?"

He spun around, to find a goblin standing right behind him. ' _Didn't even notice him coming up there, he could have grabbed me or anything'_

"I'm sorry sir, my name is Harry Potter, I wanted to make a withdrawal?"

The goblin seemed to warm up considerably at this piece of news. "Ah, Mr. Potter. Do you have your key with you?"

"Yes sir, it's right here," said Harry, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the strange, tiny key. "Sir? I had a few questions about my account if I could ask you?"

"Yes Mr. Potter, what did you wish to know?" said the goblin as he examined the key.

"Well, I was wondering what I should do about taking money out. I mean, I don't want to take all the money I'll need for the school year out right now, and I don't think I'll be able to come back in the middle of the year to make another withdrawal. I don't know if I could get a credit card or something, or how you usually do it?"

The goblin handed the key back to Harry before blinking owlishly and saying "Your key is in order. In terms of making further withdrawals when you are unable to come in yourself, The Headmaster, and once you are sorted your head of house are able to make withdrawals on your behalf. There is another branch of Gringott's located much closer to Hogwarts that they would be able to use. You just need to give them your key, and a signed letter from you saying how much you would like them to remove for you. Additionally, any adult with your key and a signed letter from you is able to make a withdrawal on your behalf. However, we take our clients security very, very seriously. To be able to access this feature, we will require you to sign a form here and now with a blood quill, and any letters given to another to make changes to your account on your behalf must be signed by you with a blood quill"

Harry took this in for a second before asking "What's a blood quill?"

The goblin seemed to take great pleasure in explaining "It is a quill that is enchanted to use the writer's blood instead of ink. If you leave us your signature, signed with a blood quill, we will be able to ascertain with almost no room for doubt that any letters coming in are indeed from you".

Harry thought about it for a few seconds. ' _It sounds painful, but it could be really useful.'_

"Ok sir, I'll do it"

"Excellent. Come into my office. Once this is done I will take you down to your vault".

The goblin, who introduced himself as Bloodaxe, had a very interestingly decorated office. There were swords and axes hanging from the walls, along with finely detailed tapestries.

The actual forms were surprisingly uncomplicated. From what he had read, Harry had been expecting pages and pages of fine print. ' _What a surprise, even the muggle banking contracts are behind the wizarding ones'_

His final signature with the Blood Quill really wasn't so bad. The pain was extremely mild, and he didn't even flinch.

"Excellent, Mr. Potter, Excellent. Let us go down to your vault now"

The trip down to his vault was—eventful. The cart hurtled and almost flew, reminding Harry of being on a rollercoaster on some trip the orphanage had taken them. Speeding through the underground tunnels on the tracks, Harry caught glimpses of wonders—a waterfall, what seemed to be a large crystal wall, and he could swear a dragon.

What the trip was over Harry stumbled out of the cart, although Bloodaxe didn't seem moved at all.

"Does everyone have to go through that whenever they want money from their vaults?" Harry asked a bit shakily.

Bloodaxe gave a deep, throaty laugh "No, no. Only when they are coming to take out artifacts and heirlooms or for their five-yearly inspections, and it is policy when someone is making their first withdrawal for them to come to the vault in question".

Having finished answering Harry's question, Bloodaxe turned to the vault door and inserting the key, opened it.

Harry gasped, blown away. When Dumbledore had said he was rich, he didn't really understand what he meant. Now though, it was beginning to click.

' _I've had all this, and I've been living like an absolute pauper!'_

The vault was lit up by no visible light source, but nevertheless, the piles and piles of coins glinted.

"The bronze ones are Knuts, the silver ones are sickles and the gold ones are galleons. Twenty-nine knuts to a sickle, seventeen Sickles to a galleon". Bloodaxe's voice was low, almost reverent in the presence of such large amounts of money. Harry was still lost for words. He walked through the vault, silently, looking at what was all his. Piles and piles of coins, reaching almost up to the high ceiling. Precious gems and jewelry. A sword in a sheath. Paintings and books. Locked chests. Harry was absolutely blown away.

"How much" he cleared his throat and continued "How much money is in here?"

"Approximately one point seven million galleons, excluding the value of the assorted heirlooms"

Harry took a very deep breath, "and it's all mine" he said, mostly to himself.

"Of course. Now, here is your complimentary money pouch. As your banker, I would advise you not to take too much. We will be giving you a checkbook as well"

Still shocked by his sudden change of fortune, Harry took the money pouch and began filling it up. He put in about two hundred golden galleons, and then just cut out his debate and put in two hundred of each of the other coins. _'What the hell, I've never had anything like this before'_ He then swept a smallish (only knee-high) pile of coins into his pouch, marveling at the seemingly small bag's ability to hold so much.

The trip back to the surface was much like the trip down, only this time Harry was lost in thought over what he should buy with his newfound riches.

' _First things first, I'm getting a wand. I hope this doesn't take long'_

As Bloodaxe bade him farewell, he told Harry "you can owl me with any issues. Address the owl to Bloodaxe, account manager and it will find me".

Walking down Diagon Alley towards the wand store he had noticed earlier, Harry noticed the alley was much busier than it had been when he entered the bank an hour and a half earlier. He also noticed, with growing discomfort the stares he was getting, and he kept hearing his name muttered.

He was almost running by the time he reached the wand store and barely gave a glance to its storefront before hurrying inside.

At first, Harry was unsure whether anyone was in the dimly-lit store. The walls were piled with long rectangular boxes of varying lengths, and there was a fine coat of dust on many of them.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" He called out uncertainly.

Just then, a curtain behind the counter moved aside as a man stepped through. Harry's first thought was of a stick insect, the man was so spindly and long-limbed. Then he saw the wand-makers eyes, and his thought was of some creature not of this world. He had never before seen eyes of such a grey, which looked out at the world through their spectacles with such intensity.

"Mr. Potter. I was wondering when I would see you"

"Well, I'm here, hah," Harry said nervously. This guy was really creeping him out.

"Indeed you are". The man stared at Harry for a short moment in such a way that gave Harry the impression that his very being was placed under a microscope.

"I wonder what wand will choose you. Perhaps one suited for transfiguration or charms, like your respective father and mother. Or perhaps something different entirely"

Harry wasn't quite sure what to say to that, so, wisely in his opinion, he said nothing.

"Try this", Ollivander said, swooping around the counter with feline grace and handing Harry a box that seemed to be have produced from nothing "Vine and Unicorn hair, 10 and 1 quarter inches"

Opening the box, Harry found a wand nestling on velvet. Not being quite sure what he was meant to do with it, he gave it a wave. Immediately it was snatched from his hand by the strange proprietor.

"No, how about this one? 12 inches, Yew and dragon heartstring". But that one as well was grabbed straight away and was apparently not for Harry.

And so it went, Ollivander giving Harry wands, Harry waving them, and Ollivander taking them away when nothing happened.

As the boxes piled high, Harry started to feel anxious and afraid. Why is this taking so long? It had been at least two hours since he had begun this process. What if he could not find the wand to suit him?

At that moment, Ollivander, facing away from him, said "no need to be impatient or to feel fear. Your wand will choose you. In fact, why not try this one? Perhaps...?"

Harry took the wand box from him, took out the wand and immediately felt it.

' _This one is it.'_ His whole arm felt warm, and he could feel energy thrumming in his hand. He gave the wand a wave and multi-colored sparks shot out of it.

Ollivander gave a little clap quite startling Harry and took the wand from him to begin wrapping it up.

"11 and a half inches. Holly and Phoenix Feather. It is a fine wand that has chosen you, Mr. Potter"

"Thank you, sir"

"But it is indeed most curious."

"What is most curious sir?"

' _This man is absolutely mad. He may be the best wandmaker, but he is an absolute loon'_

"I sold the wand that gave you that scar. 13 and a half inches, Yew and Phoenix Feather. What is most curious Mr. Potter is that the Phoenix that gave the feather for the Dark Lord's infamous wand, gave one more feather. It is curious that the wand that has chosen you contains the only other feather given by that Phoenix"

Harry felt a ripple run through him.

"What does that mean sir?"

"Whatever you choose it to. But we can definitely expect greatness from you. After all, the Dark Lord was great. Terrible, but great"

' _Definitely mad'_ "Thank you for the wand sir, how much is it?"

"That will be seven Galleons"

Handing over the money, Harry said goodbye and left. Blinking in the sunlight, he resolved to never step into that shop again if he could help it. _'That man is thoroughly creepy'_

Looking around at the shops near him, Harry decided to go get his robes and other school supplies before going to the bookstore. He knew himself well enough to know that he could spend hours in a Muggle bookstore, and was rightly afraid by how long he could end up sitting in Flourish and Blotts(the name of the largest bookstore he had seen) for.

Before going to get his school clothes and the rest of his shopping, Harry decided to buy himself a trunk. The trunk he chose in the luggage store was absolutely excellent. It had three compartments, was larger on the inside than on the outside, and was charmed to always remain feather light. He bought himself a backpack at the same store, a sturdy thing that would also not become heavy no matter how many books he put in it. For only fifty Galleons all together, it seemed a bargain to him. ' _God I love magic'_

As Harry opened the door to Madame Malkins, a bell above the door tinkled. The petite shop-keeper looked around, spotted Harry and called to him

"You for Hogwarts too dear? Come to the back, fitting another young man now in fact"

Harry walked through to the back of the store. There, behind a thin curtain, stood two small stools. One of them was occupied by a boy around Harry's size, with a mess of blond hair. Madam Malkin motioned to the stool next to the boy, and Harry stood on it.

"Hello," the boy said, "are you going to Hogwarts as well?"

"Yup" Harry replied

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

Harry was left not knowing what to say, something which was happening a lot that day. Again, as in Ollivanders, he said nothing.

"Do you have your own broom?" The boy asked.

"Not yet. Maybe I'll get one next year, once I've learned how to fly"

"You don't know how to fly?"

Harry was feeling uncomfortable, a feeling he was getting used to as well that day. "No, I was raised by Muggles after my parents died"

Harry winced at the boy's horrified look.

"You were raised by Muggles? That's terrible! Why?" The boy was almost shouting.

"I promise you, I know just how terrible it was. As for why it's a really long story".

"Your parents were well, our lot right?" The boy asked tentatively.

"If you mean a witch and a wizard, then yes, they definitely were. In fact, I've just been to my ancestral vault in Gringotts" _'damn, it does feel good to brag'_

The other boy seemed to come to some internal decision. "I'm Draco Malfoy," he said, sticking out his hand and almost hitting the women measuring him, "What's your name?"

"It's nice to meet you Draco, I'm Harry Potter".

If Harry had thought Draco was shocked before, he was not prepared for his current expression.

"You're Harry Potter?" he said incredulously?

Harry moved aside some of his hair, exposing his hated scar. "Sure am"

"And you were raised by muggles. What a travesty. Wait till father hears this"

"Do you know what house you will be in, Harry?"

"Not sure. Apparently, my parents were in Gryffindor, but from what I hear that doesn't really suit me. What about you?"

"I hope you're not a Gryffindor. I'll be a Slytherin, all my family has for generations"

"Oh, does it usually run in families?"

Draco seemed to be trying to back-track a bit here. "Not really. I mean, in some it does, in others not so much. It's much more based on who you are after all"

The boys chatted a bit, Draco telling Harry all about his ambitions to be on the Slytherin Quidditch team somehow, even if first-years weren't allowed. They paid for their robes and left the store.

"Harry?' Draco sounded very hesitant here, "What was it like, living with muggles?"

' _It was fucking hell was what it was. I despise them and will rejoice every day that I don't have to see their stupid, hateful faces'  
_

"It was bad. I grew up in an orphanage, and the other kids used to pick on me a lot. The staff there never seemed to notice or care. It got a lot worse once I started doing magic"

' _Oh, why don't you tell him all about what you did then? Tell him what you did to Joseph, I'm sure he'll want to be friends with a killer. Because that's what you are Harry, a killer. You killed Joseph, and you killed Mr. Roberts too.'  
_

' _SHUT UP! I DON'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT THAT. I DON'T WANT TO REMEMBER THAT. JUST SHUT UP!'_

' _Don't you think Dumbledore knows? He spoke to Mrs. Spruce, and he seems clever. He knows you're a murderer. You killed them, Harry.'  
_

' _Shut the fuck—'_

"Harry? You've just been staring into space for about a minute?" Draco seemed rather concerned. Harry felt incredibly touched.

"Sorry. It's just, I'm so much happier to be here, rather than with them you know?"

"Of course! You're with your own kind now Harry, you don't have to be with stinking muggles. They probably just hated you because they knew somehow, that you were better than them"

' _He's right. I am better than them'_

But that stupid voice wouldn't stop talking in his head. ' _You're really better than them? None of the rest of the kids are murderers are they?'_

Shaking his head and banishing his thoughts, Harry tuned in to the rest of what Draco was saying.

"And Father will definitely find a way to get you out of that horrid place".

"That sounds great Draco," Harry said, and he really meant it.

Draco was going to meet his mother at Ollivanders, and Harry was heading the opposite way, to the apothecary and then the bookstore. As they were saying their goodbyes and promising each other to meet on the train platform, a strident voice came calling:

"Draco, come. We must get you a wand"

Harry turned to the source of the voice and saw an absolutely noble looking man striding purposefully towards them. He was tall, with a pale, angular face, and neatly brushed blonde hair. He had a walking stick with a silver snake's head for a handle, and he was clearly Draco's father.

"Ah, Draco, who is your friend?" He said, and Harry got the impression that there was a sneer hidden beneath his words.

"Father, this is Harry Potter. Harry, this is my father, Lucius Malfoy"

"It's a pleasure to meet you sir," Harry said, bowing his head slightly in the manner he had seen people do on television.

"The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Potter. Who are you here with?"

"I came here on my own sir. The headmaster gave me directions, and well, here I am".

"But surely you have a guardian with you?"

"Dad, Harry lives in a muggle orphanage!"

Lucius looked taken aback. "Truly?" He asked, the hidden sneer curling his lip.

"Unfortunately so sir." Harry replied, wishing beyond all hope that this conversation could just end. ' _Why does everyone need to know how I live?'_

"I have heard horrific stories of wizards in muggle orphanages. I hope you have fared better than the others I have spoken to" Lucius' eyes were lost, as if in remembrance of a long-forgotten tale.

"I doubt I have sir, but I thank you for your concern" ' _That sounds formal enough right? This seems like a man to stand on formality with'_

"Well Mr. Potter, it has been a pleasure meeting you. Draco and I must finish our shopping. I am sure we shall meet again"

"Thank you, sir, I hope we shall"

"Bye Harry, see you on the train"

"Cheers Draco, see you soon".

Harry got back to the orphanage just a short time before it got dark. He made a bit of show of lugging his trunk up the stairs, grateful for the first time for everyone's indifference and hatred towards him. He was really unsure what he would say if someone tried to help him lift his trunk, only to notice that it weighed next to nothing.

Getting back into his room, he lay down on his bed, took out one of his new books and started reading. It was called Hogwarts: A History, and so far it was interesting. He wanted to know everything the average eleven-year-old wizard could about their world, and going by the books he had bought he should be able to. Scratch that, he wanted to know everything an exceptional eleven-year-old wizard could.

As he took off his glasses and closed his eyes for sleep, his mind still whirring over the mounds of new information he had picked up, he thought of Draco and Lucius Malfoy.

' _Have I made a friend?'_ he thought to himself in wonder. ' _Is that what it's like?'_

He didn't even notice as his thoughts turned to nothingness and sleep claimed him.

 **THANKS FOR READING.**

 **AS ALWAYS, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW.**

 **NEXT UP: INTERVAL. THEN, HOGWARTS EXPRESS, SORTING, AND WELCOME FEAST.**

 **AFTER THAT, THE YEAR, AND STORY PROPER BEGINS.**


	4. Interlude I

AN: I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER, NOR DO I MAKE ANY MONEY FROM THIS WRITING.

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW

ENJOY

Interval-In the Headmaster's office

Albus sat calmly behind his desk as they started to file in. The strangely shaped silver instruments on the shelves behind him whirred, and the portraits of former Headmasters and Headmistresses snored or spoke quietly to one another, creating a soft susurrus.

"Thank you for coming everyone, and thank you for the punctuality. I assume the preparations for the new year are going well?"

The assembled witches and wizards before him all nodded or spoke their assent. Albus could read the curiosity on their faces and the clear boredom on Severus'. ' _When asked where power lies, the average witch or wizard will think of the ministry or perhaps the Wizengamot. Yet here, in the hands of Minerva, Pomona, Poppy, Filius, and Severus lies far, far more power'._

"As you may be aware, Harry Potter is starting Hogwarts this year"

"Of course, how could we forget the prodigal son's return? Regale us please Albus, how shall we cater to the whims of the boy savior?"

' _Ah, Severus. Your old hatred still blinds you. I hope I can open your eyes'_

"Severus, that is really most uncalled for! You haven't even met the boy"

"No Minerva, I haven't. But I believe James' arrogance to run in the Potter blood"

Albus raised his hands, cutting off Minerva's angry retort.

"I paid Harry the home visit, and it is of his home life that I wish to speak."

There was a silence around the room as the group digested these words. Albus fancied he could see the cogs turning in their heads as they put two and two together. After all, there could really only be one reason that the heads of house and the school nurse would be called together.

"The boy's been abused?!" Squeaked Filias, his outrage palpable.

"Yes," Albus said simply.

There were noises of protest, fury, and disgust. Albus' eyes found Severus' face. Of course, the man would look totally indifferent, but Albus knew him well enough to recognize the war of emotions occurring in the Potion Master's dark eyes. Of course, simply the mention of abuse set deeply buried memories off in Severus' mind.

"I don't wish to go too deeply into details, but the boy has had a terribly difficult life in the orphanage he has been staying in"

Minerva's accusing eyes bore deep holes in his skull. ' _Well Albus, she was extremely against Harry growing up in the muggle world'_

"He has been bullied severely by other children for many years. The Matron assures me that they did everything they could, but I received the impression of a blind eye being turned, and no helping hand being offered. Additionally" here Albus looked directly at Poppy, "The matron has told me that even severe injuries that Harry received would heal extremely quickly. He has been using magic to heal himself, accidentally of course" Poppy gasped, raising a hand to her mouth.

"I do not know what house he will end up in. Of course, James and Lily were Gryffindors" he nodded towards Minerva, "But he was not raised by them, and he has had a very different childhood to either of them. I wish for whoever will be his head of house to please speak to him, carefully to be sure, and reassure him that bullying of any kind is not accepted at Hogwarts. For most of his life, he has had no reason to trust authority figure, and I wish for you to make sure he knows that as his head of house you will fight for him and keep him safe."

They nodded, still looking deeply disgusted at this entire conversation.

"Also, he must be sent to Poppy for a full check-up. I believe nutrient potions may be in order as well. The orphanage does not seem to feed their charges particularly well. Those of you who will not be his head of house, I still wish you to watch and ensure that your students are not mistreating Harry. He has never had a place since the age of one where he could feel truly safe. Hogwarts will be that place for him". ' _At least, I hope it will'_

"All preparations, bar my own, are in place for the corridor correct?"

"Yes, Albus. I still can't believe you let Hagrid bring a Cerberus into the school" spoke out Pomona. Everyone else simply said yes or nodded.

"Very well. That will be all. Thank you, everyone. Until the next staff meeting"

As they started leaving, Albus spoke again "Severus, a word please"

Severus Snape sat back down in front of Dumbledore's desk, looking a bit thrown off his stride.

"Severus. I know the hate you bear for James is still as strong as when you were in school"

Snape said nothing, simply looking at Albus with those ink eyes.

"I believe Harry will end up in Slytherin. I need you to look after the child, at least as well as any other Slytherin"

Snape started to say something, then clamped his jaw shut before he could speak.

"Severus? What was that?"

"You expect me to care for, to love as a parent, to watch out for James Potter's son! Are you mad?" Although he had started off speaking in his usual soft tone, by the end of this Severus was almost shouting.

"Severus, I"

"Don't Severus me! You know how he treated me for years. How can I look at a child bearing his face and Lily's eyes, and not be filled with rage? How can you expect this of me, Albus?"

"James Potter was a pampered, spoiled son of a proud and rich family". Severus abruptly stopped mid-rant. If there was anything he expected Albus to say, it was not that.

"He was arrogant, and raised to believe that whatever he wanted was his for the taking, simply because he was heir to an ancient, noble, rich, pureblood family".

"And so Albus? Would you like to tell me more which I already know?"

Albus continued, ignoring Snape's input totally.

"He grew to be a good, kind-hearted man. Unfortunately, he had so spoiled the possibility of a friendship with you that you would never be able to see that. Nevertheless, Harry was not raised by him. Harry was not raised in such a way. I need you to understand this Severus"

"The brat was bullied a bit, and you expect me to—"

"The brat, as you call him, was beaten to the point where the orphanage's nurse fully expected him to die" Albus' voice was as cold as it had ever been. "Not having examined the boy completely, I cannot say for certain, but I believe without magic he would have died"

This was something Snape was unprepared for. Even though he would easily speak out his hatred for the spawn of James Potter, his heart went cold at the thought of any child of Lily, or in fact, any child, going through that.

"The brat, as you call him, was sexually abused. At least once. I suspect many more times. According to the nurse, he was, and I quote, 'bleeding down there'"

Snape wanted to vomit.

"Enough Albus, I understand"

Albus, relentless, continued.

"The brat, as you call him, was driven to the point where he murdered the bully who beat him. Accidental magic, to be sure but murdered nonetheless. The boy, described as 'impressively agile and quick-footed' tripped on the stairs and broke his neck. This was just after he Harry healed, from being beaten nearly to death"

Severus could not help himself. He gaped at Dumbledore.

"The brat, as you call him, did something to the man who raped him. I'm not sure what, but the man went home and hung himself."

Albus let out a deep breath.

"I wouldn't even have all this information if something hadn't pushed me to go back to that terrible place and speak to the nurse"

"Severus, I understand that you despise even the memory of James Potter. But Severus, you must understands this! Though he wears James' face, Harry is not James. Their childhoods were as different as they could possibly be"

Albus watched Severus carefully. When the man did not move a muscle, he continued

"You are one of, if not the most accomplished Occlumens in the world. I know of no-one else who could possibly have lied to Voldemort the way you did. To do so required you to be in complete control of your every emotion. I ask you to once again put that training to use. And I say this now, not to minimize your suffering, but to add emphasis—Harry has suffered more in his eleven years of life than you did in your entire child and teenagehood. I do not say this lightly Severus. I mean it truly. Have some empathy for the child. Judge him on his own merits and failings, not on a decades-old grudge"

Severus' head had been down for the last bit of Albus' monologue. He raised it now, long hair framing his face. "I will try Albus. I will try"

"I cannot ask you to do more than that Severus" Albus sighed. "But I cannot allow Harry to be terrorized any further by one who should be guarding and guiding him"

Severus gave a curt nod, as he stood up to leave the office.

"And Severus," Snape turned back to face Dumbledore, who was now looking at some papers on his desk, "Keep an eye on Quirrel won't you?"

 **AS ALWAYS, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW.**

 **NEXT CHAPTER: HOGWARTS EXPRESS, SORTING, AND FEAST. AFTER THAT THE YEAR TRULY BEGINS.  
**

 **FOR THOSE WONDERING, THIS INTERLUDE HAD TWO PURPOSES: I WANTED TO SHOW THAT ALBUS IS NOT THE MANIPULATIVE OLD BASTARD HE IS SO OFTEN PORTRAYED AS. IN THIS FIC AT LEAST, HE TRULY WANTS TO DO RIGHT BY HARRY AND HELO HIM THE MOST HE CAN. HE MAKES MISTAKES AND MISASSUMPTIONS, BUT HE IS A BASICALLY GOOD, COMPETENT HEADMASTER.**

 **AND I ALSO NEEDED TO GIVE SOME BACKGROUND AS TO WHY SNAPE WILL BE TREATING HARRY, WELL, FAIRLY. I THINK THIS GIVES AT LEAST SOME REASON FOR THAT TO MAKE SENSE IN-UNIVERSE.**

 **ALSO, I WANTED TO GO SLIGHTLY MORE INTO DETAIL ABOUT HARRY'S ABUSE FROM AN OUTSIDE SOURCE. AS WE'LL SEE MORE CLEARLY LATER, WHEN IT COMES TO MEMORIES OF HIS CHILDHOOD, HARRY IS AN UNRELIABLE NARRATOR.**

 **HOPE YOU ENJOYED**


	5. Chapter 3

**AN: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER. I AM NOT MAKING MONEY OFF THIS.**

 **I'M STILL LOOKING FOR A BETA. PM ME IF YOU'RE INTERESTED.  
**

 **PLEASE READ AND REVIEW. I'D REALLY LIKE TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS.**

 **WITHOUT FURTHER ADO**

Chapter Three—The Trip to Hogwarts

Harry arrived at King's Cross station at 10 AM on the first. The train was leaving at 11, but he wanted to make sure to have time to find a good spot on the train. He knew how to access the hidden station, but found the idea of walking through a metal barrier quite odd. He was really glad that he didn't have much luggage-only his trunk, and he could pull that on its wheels. In the end, he had decided against buying an owl. It would be cool to have one, but he didn't really have anyone he would be sending mail to. ' _Definitely won't be mailing those muggles. Maybe a miracle will happen and some wizarding family will adopt me, and I'll never have to deal with muggles again!'_ He was startled to find himself thinking about being adopted. He had thought he had broken that habit after he finally had been adopted—only to discover that in some ways it was worse than living in the orphanage.

' _Those were muggles. They were scared of me. It will be different in the magical world'_

He started walking towards the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Draco had said that his father would teleport their family directly to the platform. ' _Not teleport. Apparate is what they call it'_

He didn't want to hang around the muggle side any longer than he had to. Seeing the witches and wizards scattered throughout the assorted muggles was actually embarrassing. ' _Don't they have any idea how muggles dress? If you have to go into the muggle world, at least make yourself seem to belong'_

He was walking past a clearly magical family (Their ridiculous clothes and owls in cages were a dead giveaway) when he heard something that made him stop and eavesdrop.

"Yes, mum, Harry Potter is coming this year". The redheaded boy was saying to his mother as a group of boys of various ages, all ginger, listened in. There was a small freckled girl as well, but she looked tongue-tied.

Harry surreptitiously took a step back, hoping none of them had noticed him listening to him. He smoothed his hair down, ensuring that his scar would be hidden.

"I'm telling you, mum, Neville told me. They were only born a day or two apart, so Neville would know"

Harry could hear the boy saying something else, but couldn't make out the exact words. He heard the boys' mother though

"Ronald, you will not pester him! He has been through enough to have earned a break from people asking him about that night. You aren't to mention You-Know-Who to him at all!"

The boy started saying something, but Harry was walking forward face burning.

' _Of course, they're all going to be talking about me. Am I going to have a chance to be myself at all, or am I gonna have to be their savior at all times?'_

Lost in his thoughts, Harry walked forwards until he was right in front of the barrier. He looked around him, couldn't see anyone watching, and walked forwards.

Straight through the metal barrier.

His skin tingled a little, but otherwise, there was no sign that he had just passed through what appeared to be solid metal. He took in the scene before him and smiled.

There was a large, bright scarlet locomotive before him, letting loose great clouds of steam. The crowds here were so blatantly magical that Harry couldn't help but laugh. He saw robes, owls, broomsticks, and older wizards and witches levitating their children's trunks with wands. Towards the back of the platform was a wide, marked off area, and Harry saw families and people seeming to condense out of the shadows and appear there with a loud accompanying crack before they would walk into the platform proper. There were young children running, and snatches of joyous and teary conversation could be heard. All in all, it was hugely different to the scene Harry had seen on the Muggle platforms. There, everything was so dull and dreary. Here though, here there was _life._

"Harry, over here!"

Harry turned around, trying to find where Draco was calling him from. The place was so bustling, it took him a minute or two to spot them.

Finally, he managed to see them. They were standing on their own, a little bit away from the crowds, Draco waving Harry over.

Draco's father was dressed stately as the last time Harry had seen him, and Draco's mother was every bit the noble lady. She was dressed very finely, her ice blue eyes and white-blonde hair contrasting with her black robes. There was something about the way she held herself, which Lucius shared as well. Something powerful and grand. ' _Muggles don't hold themselves like that. Muggles would see that and know they are below them'_

"Harry! It's good to see you. Did you get here all right?"

"Yeah Draco, I got here fine thanks. Had to take a taxi, but the matron paid for it. It's good to see you too" Harry replied.

"Harry, it's a pleasure to see you again" Lucius spoke silkily, "May I introduce my dear wife, Draco's mother, Narcissa?"

' _Am I meant to kiss her hand? Or is that something only people in old books and movies do?'_

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Potter"

"Thank you very much, ma'am, and you as well."

"I think you do not know, but we are actually related"

"Really? I thought I didn't have any family alive."

"Truly. My great-aunt Dorea Black was married to your father's great uncle, Charlus Potter. We may not be close relatives, but you do have family".

Her low confident voice and warm smile filled Harry's heart with something. He remembered the feeling, he had felt it when he first met the Welhearts. At the memory, his throat constricted, and he felt a great anxiety in him.

' _Don't trust. Never trust. It will only heart you more'_

' _NO! This can be different, it has to be'_

' _Whenever you trust and love, you get hurt more. No trust'_

' _THEY WERE MUGGLES! THAT'S WHY THEY HATED ME! IT CAN BE DIFFERENT HERE!'_

Harry simply said, "Thank you, ma'am."

"Draco, let me speak to you for a moment before you and Mr. Potter here embark"

Draco and his father walked a little bit away, and Harry watched as Mr. Malfoy began to speak to Draco.

"Harry"

He looked at Mrs. Malfoy, and she seemed to struggle with what she wanted to say for a second or two.

"Harry. If you require help or a place to stay, please, know that Malfoy Manor is open to you. Draco and you seem to have begun what seems a lovely friendship, and I know you have suffered. I will not allow that suffering to continue when there is something I can do about it"

Harry was blown away, his heart soaring. That damned voice began to speak in his head again, and he shut it away, deep within his mind where he couldn't hear it.

He looked up at Mrs. Malfoy again, and repeated, with much more sincerity now.

"Thank you, Ma'am."

Draco and Lucius returned from their chat. Mrs. Malfoy gave Draco a huge hug, and the boys made their way onto the train.

They found themselves a compartment quickly, and easily stowed their trunks onto the luggage holders near the roof. As the compartment was empty except them, Harry lay down on a full bench and made himself comfortable.

"How long do you think the ride is?"

"Father told me it takes around 7 hours"

"Oh. Should have a chance to have a nap, maybe read a bit as well"

"Yes Harry, there will be plenty of time for you to read." Draco sounded a bit exasperated. "You better get sorted into Slytherin. I know I'm gonna be there, my whole family has for generations."

"Surely you can still be friends with people in different houses?" Harry couldn't imagine there would be a rule against it, even an unwritten one.

"Well, yeah. But Slytherins and Gryffindors don't get along. Hufflepuffs are useless, and Ravenclaws spend all their time reading instead of actually living"

"Why don't Slytherin and Gryffindor get along?"

Draco thought for a little before answering. "Gryffindors are everything we're not. We proud ourselves on blood purity and they take pride in being blood traitors. We like to think things through before acting, and they just run straight into everything. We take pride in being sly and cunning, while they just say they're being brave"

"But surely bravery is a good thing right?"  
"Of course Harry, but you have to understand, a Gryffindor will be brave always, even when there is no point to it and they end up losing. We prefer to look at a situation and judge what we should do about it"

"Ok, that kind of makes sense. But what makes Hufflepuffs so useless?"

"Well…" Draco was just beginning a long explanation (which would turn into a rant) when the door to their compartment flew open. Two boys were standing there, one quite tall with red hair and freckles, and the other short and pudgy with a round face. The pudgy one had a kind of sorrowful look on his face.

' _He was talking about me earlier. What did his mother call him?'_

"You know, it's quite rude to just barge in without knocking," Harry said. ' _Ronald! That's what she said'_ "It's not good manners, Ronald"

Harry felt quite happy when he saw the boys shocked expression and he noticed his reddening ears.

"You can't expect manners from a Weasley Harry, that's just dumb". Draco drawled.

"Harry?" Ronald said. "Harry Potter?"

"That's right, I'm Harry Potter. Who are you and why are you in my compartment?"

"I'm Ron Weasley, and this is Neville Longbottom" the fat boy gave a bit of a wave, "we were looking for Neville's toad, but do you want to come sit with us?"

Harry looked at Draco, completely bemused.

"I'm already sitting here, with my friend," Harry said.

"Why are you friends with him?" The angry ginger demanded.

"Maybe because he can actually recognize Class, Weasley", Draco chimed in, starting to look a bit upset himself.

"Who would have thought, the Boy-Who-Lived sitting with a Death Eaters son!" Ron looked incredibly upset by now. _'What the hell is going on here? Lucius, a death eater?'_

Draco stood up, his normally pale face flushed making his hair stand out more.

"You will find Weasley, that people make up lies about those they are jealous of. I notice there are no rumors about your father" He looked at Harry "I've heard their whole family shares one room, and only two beds!"

"You take that back!"

Harry stood up quickly "Get out! Both of you, get the hell out of our compartment, and don't come back here!"

Ron stormed out, Neville left quietly and quickly making apologetic looking faces at Harry. Draco was pacing, muttering to himself. "I'll write father tonight, those types shouldn't even be allowed to come" Harry sat back down, heart thudding.

"You alright?" He asked Draco.

"Of course. As if a blood traitor swine like that could say anything to wound me"

"What's his problem?"

"I don't know. He'll be a Gryffindor for sure. Father told me their whole family is"

"Ok, I see what you mean about Gryffindors then"

"Yeah"

There were a few minutes of silence. ' _I have to ask, I can't leave this without asking'_

"Draco?"

"Yeah?"

"What did he mean, when he said your father was a Death Eater?"

Draco took a deep breath. Let it out. Then-

"He was. But he was forced"  
"Forced how?"

"There is a spell, one of the Unforgivables. It's called the Imperius. If you cast it on someone, you control them completely. Like one of those puppet things with strings you know?"

Draco looked into Harry's eyes. "They came to recruit father, because they knew he believed in blood purity, like them, and because he is so rich and politically connected. They didn't know that he didn't like the idea of murder and torture, so he told them no. You don't tell the Dark Lord no"

"What happened?" Harry was almost whispering. Dreading the answer, but having to hear it anyways.

"They put him under a pain curse, the Cruciatus. Also an Unforgivable, the worst pain curse that exists. It makes every nerve in your body feel like it's on fire. That's what Dad said. Then, once he was out of it, they put him under the Imperius. They made him do horrible, horrible things, and he could see it all happening but couldn't stop himself at all!"

"That's horrific," Harry said and he meant it.

"They kept him under it until they had proof of his doing all these things. Then they brought him out of it, and told him that he could either serve willingly or else-"

Draco cut off. He seemed to shrink a little bit.

' _Jesus. He can stop. Tell him to stop talking Harry, you've heard enough'_

Before he could do that though, Draco continued.

"The dark lord brought in a muggle family that he had kidnapped. He tortured them himself and kept on doing it until they had been driven mad. Then he killed them. The Dark Lord told my father that if he didn't help them willingly he would do that to my mother and I. Afterwards, he would release all the proof he had about my father doing his stuff. After that, once my mother and I would be dead and my father's name ruined, he would torture my father to death. So my father agreed"

Silence fell on the compartment, Harry trying to take it what he had just heard.

' _Holy shit. That is intense.'_ Another sly voice spoke in the back of Harry's head ' _And possibly the greatest cover story ever if he actually was a death eater'_ Harry banished that voice and turned to Draco.

"Holy shit Draco. That's one of the worst things I've ever heard."

"Yeah. Of course, the Wizengamot ruled my father as innocent, but people like Weasley still claim he was a Death Eater all along"

Harry felt hatred, real hatred bloom in him for Ron, and people like him. To keep reminding someone of the worst experience in their life was just horrific. He missed the joy in Draco's eyes and naively thought the laughter being held back was actually tears being muffled.

A few hours later, there was a knock on the door.

"Wonder who that is? The sweets trolley doesn't come a second time does she?"

"I don't know," Draco said, then called, "Come in"

The door opened, and two big, hulking figures came in.

"Ah, Crabbe, Goyle, you've found us. Where were you?"

"Walking around" grunted one of them.

Harry stared in amazement. ' _Are these two retarded?'_

"Harry, these are friends of mine, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle. Guys, this is Harry Potter"

"Pleased to meet you," Harry said. They grunted in return.

' _Seriously, is there no magical special ed school?'_

"Wanna play exploding snap?" Draco asked, pulling a deck of cards out of his robe pocket.

"What's exploding snap?" Harry asked curiously.

"Card game. Cards explode every so often. Here, I'll teach you how to play"

Harry had a great time playing, and the conversation was flowing. Admittedly, Crabbe and Goyle were less than entrancing conversationalists, but their presence was cool. The subject had moved on to their wands when again the door burst open.

A girl with impressively bushy hair strode in and looked around bossily. Her hands were on her hips, and she spoke in a torrent

"Have any of you seen a toad? Only Neville's lost his. Oh, are you guys doing magic? I've been trying it out, and it seems to be working great. I'm the first in my family to be able to do magic, what about you guys? I know all be very behind, so I've memorized all our school books, I hope that will be enough. I'm Hermione Granger by the way, what are your names?"

She said that all, in one breath, extremely quickly.

Harry looked at Draco, bemused. He was glad to see Draco seemed entirely confused by this as well, and Harry held back a laugh just imagining Crabbe and Goyle's faces.

"We haven't seen a toad, and when will people learn to knock?" Harry replied.

"We knocked" Goyle (or was it Crabbe? Harry still wasn't sure which was which) rumbled.

"That Crabbe is because inbred though you may be, you are neither a mudblood nor a blood traitor"

Crabbe and Goyle laughed. ' _Are they honestly too dumb to realize they were just insulted? No freaking way'  
_

"That's not very nice!" The bossy girl exclaimed.

"What wasn't nice?" Harry said, knotting his brow as if confused.

"You can't just say people are inbred," She said, aiming her glare at Draco.

"I was complimenting them!" Draco whined.

"No, you weren't. Whatever, if you see a toad, please tell one of the prefects. And I'm glad to see you're all already in your robes, the driver said we'll be there soon" She said, half turning her head as she walked out of the compartment.

"Stupid mudbloods. Of course, I'm wearing my robes, what else would I be wearing?" Draco threw up his hands in exasperation. Crabbe and Goyle sniggered a decidedly ugly sound.

"Draco, tell me. Does it really matter if someone is pureblood or not?"

Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle looked at Harry in utter shock.

"Of course it matters! My family has been wizards and witches for hundreds of years!"

"But Draco, why does that mean anything about you?"

Draco opened his mouth, closed it. Opened it again, closed it, opened it and spoke.

"Harry, if I'm coming from tens of generations of magical stock, why should someone who just came in from muggles be able to talk down to me? She" he pointed at the door violently, as if stabbing the departed Granger with his hand "Has to prove herself before I have any reason to respect her. I, however, am descended from generations of witches and wizards, and deserve respect for that at least"

"I think I see," Harry said slowly.

"It's much more than that though Harry" Draco was becoming quite agitated now, his hands waving "They come into our world and try to change traditions thousands of years old. If a mudblood was to adapt and truly join our world, no-one at all would have a problem with that. But no, they have to come in and say things like "Dark magic is evil" and "Wizengamot seats should be voted on, not inherited" and we all need to listen and smile and nod. Don't celebrate the ancient wizarding holidays, they offend mudbloods. Celebrate the birth of a man we don't worship, because the muggles do."

Harry was almost thrown backward by the force of this outburst.

"You know what we celebrate on December 25th Harry? We celebrate Yuletide and the winter solstice around that time! But because of muggles and mudbloods, we have to pretend to celebrate Christmas!"

"I think I understand now. You don't like them because they come from nowhere and change things right?"

"Yeah, but they get everyone to listen. All the wizards like Dumbledore and the ministry yield to their whims because "it's so hard for them to adjust". Draco finished with a sneer and was about to carry on talking when the train started slowing down.

"Were arriving!" Harry called out excitedly, moving over to the window to try to get the first look. He couldn't see much though, not with the sun has gone down.

As they got off the train, they were met by an enormous man with a lantern calling for them.

"Firs' years! Firs' years come over here!"

' _Jeez. This guy looks like he could eat both Crabbe and Goyle, and ask for dessert afterward'  
_

He was easily 8 feet tall, broad, with a thick beard and mustache. He led the first years into boats, and they started their ride down the river.

"Ye'll get ye'r first look of Hogwarts in three, two, one" he called out as their boats were coming around a bend in the lake.

Harry gasped, and from the sound, he wasn't the only one. They could see an absolutely majestic castle, and it was huge! It looked like something from a cartoon, Harry couldn't believe it was real. There was a loud splash and a girl was screaming

"Padma! Help, my sister fell in the lake! HELP!"

"Don' worry" the giant man called back, "the squid 'ill throw 'er back any minute"

Before he had even finished talking, a giant black tentacle curled out of the lake and dropped the sopping wet girl back onto the boat.

The rest of the trip went by without much incident. Draco whispered to Harry about the giant. Apparently, his name was Hagrid, and he was the groundskeeper. He would get drunk, try to do magic and set his hut on fire. Harry resolved to try to avoid the strange, monstrous man.

Eventually, the boats landed at some type of cavern. They got out and followed Hagrid to a large pair of doors set into the cavern wall.

"Everyone here?" Hagrid boomed out. When no one shouted out no, he knocked on the doors, three strong pounds that echoed in the cavern.

 **ORIGINALLY, I WAS GOING TO HAVE THE SORTING AND THE FEAST IN THIS CHAPTER, BUT IT JUST RAN TOO LONG. SO IT'LL HAVE TO BE NEXT CHAPTER.**

 **I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF EXPOSITION GOING ON, JUST BEAR WITH ME PLEASE. ONCE THE YEAR PROPER STARTS THINGS WILL MOVE A LOT MORE QUICKLY.  
**

 **I'M ESTIMATING THIS STORY WILL HAVE 15-20 CHAPTERS. I'VE STARTED MY OUTLINE FOR THE NEXT ONE.**

 **THE MAIN AIM OF THIS YEAR IS FOR HARRY TO START FINDING A PLACE AT HOGWARTS AND START FIGURING OUT WHERE HE STANDS IN THE WIZARDING WORLD.  
**

 **FROM WHAT I CAN TELL, IM TAKING THE QUIRREL STORY IN A DIRECTION NO-ONE ELSE HAS(OR AT LEAST NO-ONE THAT I'VE READ BEFORE). AS THE YEARS GO ON, THEY WILL SLOWLY MOVE FURTHER AND FURTHER AWAY FROM CANON.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW, SEND ME P.M'S WHATEVER. I'D REALLY LIKE TO KNOW WHAT PEOPLE ARE THINKING OF THIS STORY, AND OF MY WRITING. I WANT TO IMPROVE, BUT ITS HARD TO GIVE YOURSELF HONEST CRITICISM.**

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	6. Chapter 4

**AN: I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER. NOT EVEN A LITTLE BIT**

 **THE SORTING HAT'S SONG IS FROM THE ORIGINAL BOOK. STILL NOT MINE**

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Chapter Four: Welcome to Hogwarts

The door opened almost the instant Hagrid knocked on it. A very stern looking woman stood there in an immaculate set of bright green robes and a pince-nez. She had a strong look on her face, although as she looked around, Harry thought she smiled a bit when she looked at him.

"Firs' years here Professor McGonagall" Hagrid said proudly "One of 'em fell in tho, shes all wet"

"Thank you Hagrid, I'll take them from here" The lady, Professor McGonagall replied, her words precise and clipped. She took out her wand and waved it in the direction of the girl who had fallen in, and she stopped dripping.

"In a few moments, you will be entering the Great Hall for the Sorting ceremony. Which house you are sorted into will determine which dormitories you sleep in, your timetable, and many other matters throughout your time in Hogwarts. Please make yourselves presentable"

Harry noticed other kids brushing their hair down and smoothing their robes out. He decided not to bother, he looked ok, and people would want to his scar anyways.

' _It's the only thing they find interesting about me after all'_

After a short while, McGonagall nodded, opened the large double doors before them and motioned for the students to follow her in. They walked in, and Harry had his breath taken away.

"It's so beautiful" He whispered to himself.

The great hall was, as the name suggested, great. It was an enormous room, with four long tables running down it, two parallel each other, with a long main table at the head of the room which had a podium before it. The room was lit up by hundreds, thousands of floating candles, hanging in midair. Harry looked up and saw the sky, a clear night covered in stars.

"The ceiling's enchanted to look like the sky outside" He heard a girl saying.

The tables were covered with fine cutlery and crockery. The candlelight sparkled off gold and silver, casting hauntingly beautiful reflections and shadows around the room. The tables had lots of children sitting at them, varying widely in age.

Draco nudged him "That's the Slytherin table, see, that's Marcus Flint, he's Quidditch captain". Harry looked where Draco was pointing and saw a hulking boy waving at them. Everyone at that table was wearing green and silver ties.

"How do we get sorted?" Harry whispered to Draco.

"The sorting hat, oh look! There it is!"

Harry looked forwards and saw that McGonagall had placed a stool in front of the main table with a rather shabby hat on it.

' _How the hell is that going to sort us?'_

As he was wondering, the hat lifted itself up and a rip opened in it near the brim. It looked like a mouth. The hat began to sing!

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty, But don't judge on what you see, I'll eat myself if you can find A smarter hat than me. You can keep your bowlers black, Your top hats sleek and tall, For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat And I can cap them all. There's nothing hidden in your head The Sorting Hat can't see, So try me on and I will tell you Where you ought to be. You might belong in Gryffindor, Where dwell the brave at heart, Their daring, nerve, and chivalry Set Gryffindors apart; 94 You might belong in Hufflepuff, Where they are just and loyal, Those patient Hufflepuffis are true And unafraid of toil; Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw, if you've a ready mind, Where those of wit and learning, Will always find their kind; Or perhaps in Slytherin You'll make your real friends, Those cunning folk use any means To achieve their ends. So put me on! Don't be afraid! And don't get in a flap! You're in safe hands (though I have none) For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

' _Well, that answers that. We just have to put it on'_

Professor McGonagall walked up to the podium with a piece of parchment in her hands.

"When I call your name, you will come up to the front and be sorted. Afterwards, you shall sit at the table of your House"

"Abbot Hannah" She called out over the now quiet Hall.

A girl with her blonde hair in pigtails walked up to the stool. She sat with hat on head for a few seconds, then the Hat's 'mouth' appeared again and it shouted out:

"Hufflepuff!"

One table burst into loud applause. Hannah took the hat off and ran over to them, blushing furiously.

Professor McGonagall's voice cut through the noise of the crowd.

"Bones Susan"

She too was sorted to Hufflepuff.

"Get the wastes of space out of the way quickly" Draco whispered snidely to Harry.

Harry almost burst out laughing, and an instant later almost threw up.

' _What if the Hat puts me there? The only thing worse could be Gryffindor. If I have to put up with being in the same house as Weasley for the next seven years I'll have to strangle myself'_

"Boot Terry"

"Ravenclaw!"

A different table applauded this time, and Terry Boot headed there.

' _I don't think I'd mind Ravenclaw so much, they sound all right. Although I think I'd prefer Slytherin, at least that way I'll know I'll have a friend'_

There was another Ravenclaw after that, and then Lavender Brown went to Gryffindor.

While the Gryffindor table was applauding, Harry noticed the Slytherin table was booing and hissing. ' _Wow, Draco wasn't kidding when he said there was a serious rivalry between those two'_

A few people later, and Millicent Bulstrode became the first Slytherin. Draco joined the Slytherin table in clapping for her. Harry wasn't quite that sure on where he would be sorted and didn't want to offend anyone, so he just did nothing.

Crabbe and Goyle became Slytherins, and the annoying bushy haired Muggleborn girl from the train-Hermione Granger became a Gryffindor, as did Neville Longbottom.

"Malfoy Draco".

Draco Swaggered up to the hat, and almost the instant it touched his head it shouted out:

"Slytherin!"

Draco gave a brilliant smile, and walked over to the Slytherin table amidst cheers and clapping.

Theodore Nott and Pansy Parkinson also went to Slytherin. Harry began bracing himself after Padma Patil was sorted, not realising there was another Patil in the way.

Finally, the call came.

"Potter Harry"

The Hall went silent. A few mutters here and there broke the quiet.

"The Harry Potter?"

"It's the Boy-Who-Lived!"

"Move, I want to see him"

Harry ignored them all and walked forward, keeping his eyes straight on the stool and Hat which would decide his future. He stared at it until it filled his whole world, and before he knew it he was sitting on the little chair with the Hat on his head. It covered his whole head, and all he could see was darkness.

" _ **Ah, interesting"**_ Harry almost jumped.

" _ **No need to be afraid"**_.

Obviously, that was the sorting hat. It had a most curious voice. If old dusty books could speak, that is how they would sound.

" _ **What an interesting mind. Now, where to place you. You could do well in Ravenclaw, or perhaps Gryffindor but-"**_

' _What about Slytherin? Would I not do well in Slytherin?'_

" _ **Slytherin? You could be great in Slytherin, this is true. Nevertheless-"**_

Harry didn't need to hear any more. He could be great in Slytherin, and he already had friends there. It was a no-brainer really.

' _Please, put me in Slytherin'_

" _ **I am expecting greatness from you. If you are sure, then for you it shall be"**_

"Slytherin!"

Harry heard the hat shouting his new Houses name out to the hall. He pulled it off his head and started walking towards his table and Housemates. At first, there was a confused silence, until Draco started clapping. Spurred on, the rest of the table broke into loud applause.

Harry sidled into the seat next to Draco.

"You're bright red" Draco observed.

"I'm not used to such attention" Harry replied, trying to see his reflection in the golden plate in front of him.

"What took so long?" Draco said, "You were under there for like five minutes!"

"What! Really? It didn't feel so long" Harry said, feeling a bit lame.

"Well anyways, you're here now, and that's what matters," Draco said, looking back at the sorting. "Not many of them left now"

Harry meanwhile was shaking hands with the other Slytherins sitting to his left and across from him. Pansy Parkinson and a pretty Brunette sitting next to her were waving at Harry from a bit down the table.

"Sorry? I didn't quite catch that?" Harry said to Nott sitting opposite him, whose words had been swallowed in the Gryffindors' applause for Ron Weasley.

"I said, where've you been living all this time? There's been a lot of speculation you know"

Harry swallowed. He'd known this would be brought up but hadn't quite expected it to be so soon.

"I was put in an orphanage," He said shortly "I really don't know why. I wish I hadn't been though".

The reedy boy's eyes widened.

"I'm sorry, that must have been terrible. A muggle orphanage right?" He said, his voice a bit comforting.

"Yeah. I don't know why I couldn't at least have gone into a wizarding orphanage, but the Headmaster apparently decided that a Muggle orphanage was the best place for me"

Nott was about to reply when Blaise Zabini was sorted into Slytherin and they all sorted clapping again.

Dumbledore immediately stood up and smiled out at the room.

"To Our new students welcome, and to our old students welcome back. Just a few words before we begin the start-of-year feast, and here they are. Nitwit, Blubber, Ointment, Tweak"

With that bit of gibberish, he sat down, leaving Harry feeling exceptionally confused.

"Is he totally mad?" He said to Draco.

"Completely. You should hear how he talks about Muggles" Draco replied.

Suddenly the tables were covered with food. Harry looked around, not believing his eyes. He'd always had food to eat at the orphanage, but the only time he'd ever even _seen_ food like this was in films.

There were meats of every type, whole roast chickens, and turkeys, plates of steaming potatoes and other vegetables. There was food beyond description, the tables groaned under the weight of it all.

For a few seconds, Harry just sat there staring, before he reached over and snagged a drumstick from the chicken.

It was amazing!

He started piling his plate up, pausing just long enough to fill his goblet with juice before diving right back into his food.

For a while, he did nothing but focus on his food. He devoured it, savoring every bite. He had never been starved in the orphanage, it's true. Maybe he didn't get as much food as a boy his age had needed, but there had always been food available. He simply hadn't realized up until right then, that the food at the orphanage barely had any taste. It wasn't bad tasting, it was simply bland. The food at Hogwarts though encompassed everything. There were sweet, savory, and spicy foods.

' _If I wasn't already in love with this place, this would convince me to stay'_

He surfaced from his plate after he started feeling full, and heard an older student sating something to Draco.

"I know you guys will want to mess around, but you firsties better not lose too many points for us"

"Points?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, points. You get House points for doing things right, you know, helping other people and answering questions right and stuff like that. They also can take away points if you do things wrong" The guy was pointing to four huge hourglasses "At the end of the year, the house with the most points wins the House Cup. We've had it my whole time here-the last six years"

"Don't worry Geoffrey" Draco said, "We won't get caught doing anything too bad, right Harry"

"Yeah, wouldn't want everyone pissed at me" Harry said.

Geoffrey laughed. "The year before I came", he said, "One of the fifth years got caught sabotaging the Gryffindors brooms just before the Quidditch finals"

"Whoa, what happened?" Harry asked. He couldn't imagine the school would go easy on someone who did that.

"The idiot lost us 150 points, and he got detention for a month. But never mind that, apparently he ended up in the hospital wing twelve times before the end of the year! And he had to stay because the fifth year is OWL year you know. The next year he didn't come back".

Harry was about to ask what the hell an OWL year was when the Hall went quiet again.

Turning around, He saw Dumbledore had stood up to speak again.

"Ah, it is always such a pleasure to look over the sea of those coming to be educated. Hopefully, you will finish this year with brains more full than now"

He paused his speech for a moment, beaming at them all.

"I would like to remind everyone of some of the rules. If you are comfortable you know them, please feel free to do whatever you wish-quietly of course"

"The forbidden forest is out of bounds at all times, unless you are with your teacher during class-time. And possibly detention"

' _We get sent into a forest for detention?'_

"Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you that spells are not to be cast in the hallways. Also, that Fanged Frisbees, as well as another 86 items sold at Zonko's, are forbidden. Please see the list in his office for more details"

Dumbledore's twinkling eyes suggested deep laughter as he looked around the room.

"Love Potions are strictly forbidden at Hogwarts. Anyone found in possession, or worse, use of one, will have to face severe consequences" He said seriously.

"And lastly, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Harry laughed, then stopped when he saw no-one else was.

"Was he being serious?" He asked Geoffrey

"Must have been. The man might be mad, but he wouldn't make a joke about something like that"

"First years! Slytherin first year! Please come over here"

Harry stood up at that, looking towards the pinched-faced boy who was calling. He looked to about sixteen and had a badge that said "prefect" pinned to his robes. Following the other first years, Harry walked over to the apparent prefect, at the end of the table.

"Looks like you're all here. My name is Jeremy Mumps. I am one of the prefects. You'll be introduced to the others over tonight and tomorrow. For now, please follow me to our dorm rooms" The boy spoke in a clear, strident voice.

Following Jeremy down to their rooms was an experience for Harry. There was just so much to see.

He could see the paintings pointing at them as they walked past and speaking to each other. He saw ghosts, floating past them. He could swear he had seen one of the suits of armor move just as they passed it, but when he spun around it was as it had been. He had to join the group heading to their dormitories, otherwise, he probably would have just stood there for a while puzzling it over.

He was definitely getting sleepy. He could feel his feet getting heavier with each step, and was glad when the crowd in front of him came to a stop.

"As you can tell, we are the dungeons. This spot of wall in front of you is the entrance to our common-room and dorms. Remember this column next to it, there's no other one like it in the castle so you can easily make sure that you're at the right place. The common-room opens with a password, which is changed every two weeks. The new passwords will be found the morning of the change on our noticeboard. Don't tell them to any non-Slytherin. The current password is Salazar. They will be more difficult later on." Jeremy finished talking, and the first years moved forwards into their common room.

Harry looked around. The walls were carved from stone but didn't seem to radiate cold as stone usually did. The floor was richly carpeted in an emerald and silver scheme, with a giant snake in the middle of the room. There were armchairs and couches around the fire, which was merrily roaring. The fire and hanging cast odd shadows on the floor, tapestries, and paintings. It felt comfortable.

"First years, your dormitories are up those stairs," Jeremy said, pointing to a staircase to the left of a bookshelf. "You will keep the same rooms over your entire stay in Hogwarts. Boys take the left staircase, and girls the right"

They all started moving towards the stairs when Jeremy carried on "Not bedtime just yet boys and girls. Professor Snape likes to have a word with the first years after the start of year feast. He should be here any minute"

Just as he was finishing his sentence, the common room door opened, and the sallow, hook-nosed teacher Harry had seen at the feast walked in, accompanied by a girl with her long her in plaits. Harry noticed her prefect badge glinting in the flickering light as the Professor stopped in front of the assembled first years.

"Welcome to Slytherin House. I am Professor Snape, your head of house" The man spoke, his voice low. Harry strained to hear him, getting the feeling that this was not a man to annoy.

"This is Sarah Perkins, another of your prefects. You will obey the prefects unless I directly tell you otherwise". The girl smiled at them, teeth blinding.

"As your head of house, I will be responsible for you. I will look after you as need be, and punish you as required. As a teacher, I am forced to deal with an exceptional amount of idiocy. I am sure you do not require me to tell you not to add to that idiocy. You will represent Slytherin, and you will do your house proud". He took a moment to look them over with his ink-black eyes.

"I am sure that you will all be excellent in your school-work, and I will not have to punish any of you for homework not done or the like?" He said, turning it into a question at the end.

"Yes, sir" came a rumbling from the crowd.

"Excellent," He said, lips curling up slightly, "Mr. Potter, a word please?"

Harry was jolted out of the trance he had entered during the man's speech. He walked after him, out the common room, and saw him heading away from it.

"Keep up Potter," Snape said, without turning his head back.

Harry walked fast after him, not quite running but wanting to.

' _Why does he want to talk to me? I haven't done anything wrong, have I?_

 _Oh, God! Maybe he found out about Joseph or Mr. Roberts! He's probably gonna want to keep my wand or make me sleep in a different room to the other kids. Shit, what am I gonna do?'_

They reached a series of steps heading further down. The further down the steps they went, the cooler the air felt.

Finally, they reached a door. Following Snape through, Harry felt as if he had stepped into some mad scientists lair. There were jars of different size all over the shelves, shoved between books with strange shapes on them.

Odd _things_ floated in liquids in the jar. Animal parts, plants, and-

' _Is that an eyeball?'_

In the corner of the room, besides the fireplace sat a cauldron with a low fire below it. Wisps of weird smelling smoke drifted out of it as a wooden spoon stirred it on its own.

Snape sat down behind the desk in the center of the room.

"Sit down Potter"

Harry sat shifting a little.

"Sir, what is-"

"This is my office Potter. I can usually be found here when I am not otherwise occupied with my onerous teaching duties. I expect you to come and speak to me if you are having any difficulties".

"Sir, if I may ask, why am I being singled out for this?"

A look of uncertainty crossed Snape's face for an instant.

"I know some of your upbringing Potter. The types of behaviors you have been exposed to are not tolerated at Hogwarts. I expect you to tell me if you are being harassed, be it by student, teacher, portrait or ghost. As your head of house, while you are here I am your guardian. If you are experiencing issues, I will put a stop to them" He said silkily.

"I don't think that will be necessary sir, thank you," Harry said numbly.

"Listen to me boy. You shall not suffer in silence. If there are any troubles, you **will** speak to me. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir"

"Good. Tomorrow, you have a free period after lunch. During that time you will go to Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse for a check-up. I will be making sure that you have been. Understand?"

"Yes, sir. Why is that necessary sir?" Harry asked, slightly confused about where this was going.

Snape heaved a great sigh.

"You do not yet know the magical theory necessary to truly understand this, so I will give a brief outline. The more complicated the effects of a spell, the more difficult to cast it correctly. Do you follow this?"

"I think so," Harry said carefully.

"Good. Now, the human body is one of the most complex subjects. In order for it to operate correctly, there are many different operations occurring at once. Thus, healing spells which are more complicated than curing a simple cut become very difficult to cast"

"Okay," Harry said slowly.

"You have used accidental, wandless magic to heal yourself. Accidental magic is generally the opposite of precise. It is a witch or wizard's magic responding to their desires or emotions. It is not cast with a clear intent in mind."

"But how does-" Harry started, and was interrupted quickly

"Potter now is not the time for a discussion on magical theory. Come back to me after Christmas if you have questions on that. For now, just comprehend this: While you may have been healing yourself, it is possible that at the same time you were causing yourself damage"

"Yes sir" Harry responded.

"Very well. Now, go to sleep. I will not have my Slytherins oversleeping the first day of the year"

Harry stood to leave, and was about to step away from the table when Snape spoke again, his voice just above a whisper, and somehow conveying urgency.

"I will deny saying this with every breath in my body, but what you did to those muggles was justified"

Harry was rooted to the ground, his mouth half-open.

"Not just justified, but right. They deserved it. Guilt will tear your mind apart if you let it. See that you do not. And remember, they hurt they- They deserved it"

Harry lay in his four-poster bed, the lake making comforting sounds against his window. He had barely a moment of conscious thought before sleep took him. And at that moment, he heard Professor Snape's words:

' _They deserved it'_

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	7. Chapter 5

**AN: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER. TRUST ME ON THIS.**

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Chapter Five- The First Week

By the time Friday afternoon arrived, Harry wanted nothing more than to just lie down and relax. Hogwarts was incredible, but it was a big adjustment and he just wanted to relax a bit and let his brain calm down.

Unfortunately, Draco had other ideas.

"C'mon Harry, Theo, Blaise and I are gonna go explore the castle a bit. Come with us!" He whined.

"I just want to lie down" Harry complained, but the others weren't having it.

"Harry, stop acting like a Hufflepuff" That was Theo.

"Yeah Harry, if you don't take part in any social activities, no one will want you to in the future" Blaise threw in. Harry noticed Blaise thought things through way too much.

"Fine" Harry finally agreed "At least this way I'll get to know the place a bit better. I was almost late to Transfiguration on Tuesday, McGonagall would have thrown a fit. Probably would have gotten detention"  
"Never mind arriving at classes on time Harry," Draco said in his drawl, "My father's told me a bit about some of the rooms in Hogwarts. There's all type of secrets hidden around this place!"

"Like what?" Somehow when Theo asked a question it came out sounding slightly accusatorily.

"Well, Father's told me there are all types of secret passageways and secret rooms scattered around. He says there are rooms full of lost treasure and hidden magical objects" Draco said quite excitedly.

"That does sound pretty cool," Harry said dubiously

"Don't worry Harry, I think he said there's a secret library hidden somewhere also. Books that are too dangerous to be put in the Restricted Section even"

"Now you've done it Draco, all he needs is another library to hang out in" Theo snidely remarked, "You made your way through the normal one yet?"

Harry blushed. It was true, he'd been to the library every day since they had arrived at Hogwarts. The place was just so cool, he couldn't help himself. All that knowledge… It was mindblowing. He felt he could walk for hours doing nothing but looking at titles and breathing in the musty smell of old books.

"I would spend a lot more time in the library if that girl wasn't always there," Harry said.

"Which girl?" Blaise asked

"That mudblood, Granger. She's trying to memorize the whole library and impress everyone with her brilliance" Draco remarked.

"Yeah, she is terrible. I'm glad Professor Snape took her down a notch this morning" said Theo

"Granger, if I wanted Mr. Jiggers definition I would have opened the textbook," said Blaise, in a brilliant impression of Professor Snape.

"She's not that bad, she just won't shut up," Harry said

"Aaaw, Harry likes the Mudblood" Theo chimed

"Do not"

"Do so"

"Do not"

"Will the two of you shut up? I'm trying to remember where this staircase goes" Draco said

"I think it went to the third floor yesterday, so it must go the fourth today," Harry said.

"Brilliant. Let's go" Draco said.

"Mind the trick step Harry," Blaise said

"Thanks".

"What've you guys thought of classes so far?" Blaise asked.

"They've been pretty cool. Although honestly, Herbology is only for weirdo's who like plants, and History of Magic could be fun if taught by a competent teacher" Draco answered him.

"You could definitely say the same for Defence. I was expecting so much from that class, and Quirrel just stutters for an hour! I think I'll just read the textbook in class. It's what I'm doing for History"

"Yes, Harry" Theo said "Any advice for those of us who don't enjoy reading textbooks?"

"Maybe you guys should learn to?"

Having friends was definitely a strange experience for Harry. People who voluntarily included him in stuff they were doing was totally unknown to him. Oh, he knew of the concept of friends, and he had even known one or two kids in the orphanage who may have become his friends if people like Joseph hadn't turned them off him.

' _But that's alright Harry, you killed him, didn't you? No friends for Joseph now, no, he's dead because you murdered him'  
_

' _Shut up! Remember what Professor Snape said'_

Reminding his guilt of what his house head had told him seemed to help with the voices. It shut them up for a bit at least, and really, what more could he ask for?

Harry had made friends in Hogwarts. He marveled at that as he lay in bed that Friday night and thought of the week. He enjoyed his bickering with Theo and Blaise, and Draco, Pansy, and Daphne were cool to hang out with. That girl Tracey Davis had hung around them as well, but she didn't really talk much.

' _Maybe she should make friends with Crabbe and Goyle, they don't really talk either.'_ Harry sniggered at the thought of the three of them having a conversation with their seemingly limited vocabularies.

Transfiguration and Charms had been seriously cool. McGonagall scared Harry a little, she seemed to focus on him a lot. But the thought of being able to change things into other things was just so frigging cool.

Their charms professor seemed nice. He had started teaching them how to make objects move, and said that they would be soon moving onto levitation.

Harry had asked about taking the Magical Theory class after he saw a sign about it, but Jeremy had told him it was only available third year and up.

Potions was pretty cool as well. Harry liked it because from what he could see, it made sense. Once you understand the properties of the ingredients, then it should make sense that adding the different ones together would have specific results.

History really was annoying. He would have thought having a ghost teach history would be great, but it really, really wasn't. Binns just carried on, not noticing anything. Halfway through his lesson, everyone was sleeping. It was absolutely ridiculous.

Defence was also pissing Harry off. He had been so excited for that class, only to find their teacher a stuttering mess. Even the textbook was cool, talking about countercurse and jinxes, but Quirrell had barely spoken about any of them. Harry still wasn't sure what exactly the Dark Arts were, and he resolved to ask Quirrell after their next lesson.

' _If he can't even answer that, I'll ask Professor Snape. I'll tell him Quirrel couldn't tell me. Imagine what a sneer he'll give to that'_

Potions had been fantastic. Seeing that arrogant Ron Weasley and that know-it-all Granger get their asses handed to them by Snape had been one of the highlights of Harry's week. Thinking of such pleasant things, Harry nodded off to sleep.

* * *

Harry woke up to the blue shaded light, streaming through the lake and into his windows. He clicked his neck and got out of bed, rubbing his head. He had some strange dreams the previous night. Lots of high pitched laughter, and pinpricks of pain in his forehead.

"Hey Harry, what took you so long to get here?" Pansy demanded as he finally walked into the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Overslept a bit, came in a hurry, took a wrong turn and almost got mauled by that stupid cat" Harry grumbled as he slid onto the bench.

"I hate that cat. Do you think anyone's ever tried to poison it?" Daphne asked.

"Don't be stupid Daph, Professor Snape would poison you!"

"Hey Harry, catch!" said Draco, throwing a bag to Harry, which he snagged out of the air.

"Thanks, where'd you get the BBB's from?" Harry asked.

"BBB?" Theo piped in, sounding puzzled.

"C'mon. You can't really expect me to call them Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans whenever I mention them? That's like" Harry started counting on his fingers, mouthing the words "seven syllables!"

"Mother sent them. Had you actually been here earlier, you would have gotten some of the other stuff she sent as well. The rest of it is just for me"

Harry shrugged, snagging some toast just before whatever was left on the plate disappeared.

"What do you want to do today? I was thinking of going up to the upper floors and-"

"Draco, relax. We'll have years to search the castle. Why don't we just relax outside a bit? I wouldn't mind swimming in the lake to be honest" Blaise said

"Yeah, let's go swimming!" Theo said "You in Harry?"

"Mmph," Harry said, nodding with his mouth full.

"You sure? You could go to the library instead"

"Relax Draco. I'll probably just go the library later" Harry said with an impish grin.

Harry yawned, carefully hiding it behind his fist. He didn't want McGonagall to have any reason to pay more attention to him than she already was, and he definitely didn't want to lose Slytherin any points.

' _Although I've already gained us ten points. I don't know if any of the other first years have done that much so far'_

There was something in the way Professor McGonagall's eyes went _soft_ when she looked at him that gave Harry the feeling that she also knew about his life in the orphanage.

' _How many people did Dumbledore tell?'_

' _Afraid that they all know you're a killer? They should. You don't deserve to be here. You should be in that Azkaban place Draco was talking about'_

' _JUST LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY!'_

' _Like you left Joseph alone? Like you left Mr. Roberts alone? You disgusting boy you'_

' _SHUT UP! THEY DESERVED IT!'_

"Mr. Potter? Have you made any progress with the match?"

McGonagall's voice cut through Harry's reverie.

"Sorry ma'am, I was distracted. I'll try again" He said, trying to seem repentant.

"Please do so," She said and walked away.

"Mutatium" Waving his wand, Harry tried to keep a needle in mind as he spoke the spell.

By the end of class, Harry had almost managed the change. His match had gone all silver, but it wasn't sharp yet.

Tracey won five points for Slytherin for being the first to finish the transfiguration completely. Apparently, she was the first out of all the classes to manage it. Harry resolve to manage it by the next class.

They were given 8 inches of homework, as well as instructions to carefully practice the spell by the next class.

Defence was the same as it had been, but Harry was going to ask Quirrell about the Dark Arts after class. Had been going to at least, until he felt a headache developing towards the end of class, while Quirrell was writing their homework on the blackboard.

' _I'll ask him another time. Maybe I should ask Draco first, he's mentioned it before. I'll see if any of my books talk about it also'_

* * *

The days easily passed, until the end of the week was approaching. Before they could have a nice relaxing weekend though, they had flying lessons.

Harry had been alternating between being excited and nervous for flying lessons. He had heard that his father was a talented flier, and found the idea of flying to be cool, but at the same time—Flying on a broomstick did sound pretty dangerous. Add to that the piece of news he had been told when he heard about flying lessons:

"What do you mean we're having flying lessons with the Gryffindors?" Draco had demanded.

"I don't write the timetable" Jeremy had replied calmly "and stop whining"

The Slytherin and Gryffindor first years were all lined up in the grounds, not far from the Forbidden Forest. The flying teacher and quidditch umpire, Madam Hooch stood in front of them, behind the row of brooms the students were all standing behind. She had just finished giving them a short lecture about flight safety.

"Now, hold out your wand hand and say UP!" She commanded, her broom flying to her hand at the word.

Harry stretched out his right arm "UP!" He said, forcefully.

He was pleasantly surprised that his broom flew straight into his hand. Not everyone was so lucky.

Draco, Theo, Blaise, and Crabbe had their brooms in their hands, as well as some of the Gryffindors, but that seemed to be everyone.

"Try again if you didn't get it already. Remember, say it calmly but with strength" Madam Hooch announced.

There was a chorus of "UP!"'s and most of the brooms were in peoples hands by now.

Harry looked around. Most of the Slytherins and some of the Gryffindors were mounting their brooms, so he did so as well. Madam Hooch was walking over to all of them and making sure that they were sitting properly and holding the broom correctly.

"When I blow my whistle, you will kick off hard. Do not fly too high, just try float around about ten feet high or so. Three, two, one, PAAARP"

Harry kicked off, and before he knew it he was flying. It felt so right, the wind blowing his hair and robes back. He looked down and laughed.

' _Muggles can keep their planes, this is amazing!'_

Suddenly there was a loud thump and a high-pitched scream. Harry looked towards the sound and saw one of the kids on the ground, with Madam Hooch kneeling beside them.

"Everyone come back down! You will wait on the ground while I take Mr. Longbottom to the Infirmary"

' _Of course, it would be Neville that fell. Seriously, that guy is an accident waiting to happen'  
_

As Madam Hooch helped Neville hobble off towards the school, Draco kneeled down and exclaimed loudly

"Hey! Look at this! It's that toy his gran sent him"

"Give that back Malfoy, it's not a toy" Weasley said loudly.

"Tell you what Weasley, how about we race for it?" Draco smirked "Or I could just keep it if you're scared"

"Draco, someone's coming! Just give it back" Pansy whispered urgently.

Sure enough, the figure of McGonagall seemed to be making its way down to them. Draco quickly threw the Remembrall to Weasley, scowling at him.

That night, Weasley came past the Slytherin table during dinner.

"You're only brave when you're surrounded by all your friends Malfoy. One on one, you know I would crush you" He said, not seeming to care about all the Slytherins watching.

"Really? How about a duel then?" Draco answered.

"Fine, you're on"

"Tonight at 11? In the trophy room?"

"Sounds good. Who's your second Malfoy? You'll need them"

Draco looked at his friends appraisingly

"Harry," He said after a long moment "Who's yours?"

"Seamus". Weasley gave them a scowl and left.

"What do I need to do in this duel?" Harry asked

"Well, in an actual duel a second takes over when the main dueller can't fight anymore. Tonight you won't have to do anything because I'm not going"

"You're not?" Harry said confused.

Draco gave a huge smile

"I think Filch is going to get an anonymous tip-off about students out of bed. What do you think?"

Theo roared with laughter, Harry smiled a bit and said

"That's pretty smart"

"Cunning Harry. Cunning"

* * *

And so the time passed at Hogwarts. Lessons took up a lot of time, but Harry found he quite enjoyed most of them. He wasn't exactly top of his classes, but he was in the top five in most of them, and in Herbology he at least could hold his own in the theory. He had stopped going to the library every day. Even though he knew it was good natured and just joking, he still tensed up whenever one of his friends gave him a jibe. Blaise may have noticed that he had eased up a lot with his mocking. Harry had started to taking a bunch of books out at a time and reading them in his spare time instead. Some days he felt like his brain would just explode from all the new information, but then he would go to the common room where there was always someone playing exploding snap or chess, or otherwise just relaxing and talking nonsense. All in all, he felt completely at home.

As the days drew closer to Halloween, Harry's headaches had been getting worse. He had debated going to Madam Pomfrey about it, but he didn't really feel comfortable with that. Even though her check-up had been very relaxed, he still felt a bit weirded out by her worrying about him. He had to go there every Saturday anyway for a nutritional potion, and he really didn't want to spend more time with her clucking over him than necessary.

The day before Halloween, at the end of his Defence class, Harry hung back while the other students filed out.  
'Just want to ask him a question' Harry mouthed to Daphne in response to the girl's questioning look.

"Sir? May I ask you something please?" Harry asked, his head pounding.

' _I don't care about this damn headache, I'm still going to do the things I want to'_

"Mr. P-P-Potter. How can I he-he-help you?"

"I was wondering sir, about what the Dark Arts actually are?"  
For a second Harry's head pounded so hard he thought his skull was going to burst. Immediately afterward though, his headache receded until it was only a minor, dull ache in his forehead.

"What do you m-m-mean Mr. Potter?" Quirrell asked, looking at Harry curiously.

"Well sir, it's just that, this subject is called Defence Against the Dark Arts, and people always talk about Dark Wizards and people using the Dark Arts, but no-one says what that actually means! What makes a spell be considered Dark? At first, I thought it was that it causes harm, but most spells can cause harm and-"

"I think I u-u-understand your question, Mr. Potter. Let me th-think for a minute. What you have asked has a very c-c-complex and complicated answer"

Quirrell closed his eyes for a few minutes, deep in thought.

' _Finally!'_

"The first thing you must understand P-Potter, is that there is no one d-d-definition of what makes something Dark. There are very, very many, and the ministry in their wisdom combined all the definitions when they decided what would be legally considered dark. F-Firstly, there are many spells and rituals the ministry consider Dark, which are technically not but are simply too powerful for the ministry to allow anyone to use. M-Many of the spells and R-R-Runes used in the construction of Hogwarts Castle fall into this category. There is nothing wrong with using these spells, they will not cause harm to their caster, but they are exceptionally powerful and thus, are illegal."

"That's quite unfair isn't it?" Harry asked.

"Many would agree with you. Still, the ministry's mind is made up. I must tell you though, almost every country uses different definitions of Dark, and thus what is illegal in England may be perfectly fine to use in Spain. England does indeed have the strictest Dark Arts laws, to speak truly"

"So there's nothing inherently bad with the magic? It's just illegal?"

"You are getting a-a-ahead of yourself there. It is a matter of d-d-debate about whether there is anything inherently bad with any magic, but we will not discuss ph-philosophy now"

"Ok. So some magic is just illegal because it's too strong. What else makes something dark?"

"Basically, any spell that has no other purpose but to cause harm is Dark. As you said, most spells can hurt someone. But while I can kill someone with a cutting curse, I can do nothing with a killing curse other than kill. You see the difference?"

"Yes, sir. That makes sense. But why does no-one talk about this?"

"I'm not qu-quite finished yet Potter. To answer your last question, you need to hear another definition of Dark. This is the oldest, and to be honest, most accurate definition of Dark Arts I know of. By now, you are surely aware that to correctly cast a spell, you need to have a certain desire or emotion in mind. In transfiguration or charms, merely saying the words and moving your wand is not enough unless you have the result in mind. Later in Defence, you will learn about Boggarts and Dementors. The spells to combat these creatures require one to have humor and happiness in mind. In order to cast spells that are truly Dark, one needs to have 'negative' emotions in mind. Instead of thinking of love, happiness or the desire to protect, one would need to feel lust, sadness and the desire to cause pain. These spells are far more powerful than other spells. They are almost alive, they actively fight back against healing. The use of these spells also changes the user. They make him more prone to feeling the 'negative' emotions, and thus, he is more prone to using them, causing a neverending cycle. These spells are the true Dark Arts. We simply use it as an umbrella term for any harmful magic"

"Wow" Harry half-whispered, half-spoke. It was really a lot to take in. Coming to Quirrel had been the right move.

"There is more. Some branches of magic have been deemed Dark due to the possibility of their misuse. Necromancy, for example, can be used for the creation of Inferi, and so the entire branch is banned. Soul magic can be terribly dangerous, and so is banned and deemed Dark, even though historically it never was."

"Why doesn't the ministry just judge based on what the magic was used for?" Harry asked. He could kind of understand Draco's indignant comments on the train about Dark magic being illegal.

"Some people want that. Unfortunately for them, our current ministry is rather liberal-leaning, and so this will not be changed. Many of these laws were put in place during the time of Aeunulus Wattle, a Dark wizard in the mid to late 1800's. They were only strengthened and increased, first during Grindelwald's time, then during the Dark Lord's"

"Thank you, sir. That helps a lot. I've been very confused about this"

Professor Quirrell seemed to shake his head very slightly before answering.

"Its m-m-my pleasure Mr. P-P-Potter. I'm always available to h-h-help"

"May I ask sir, what you think about the Dark Arts? I mean, about whether or not they should all be illegal or just judged on how they are used?"

Professor Quirrell leaned in slightly before answering, his eyes intent on Harry.

"I believe Mr. Potter, that within magic there is no good or evil. There are only varying levels of power, and those capable of wielding it safely"

"Thank you sir," Harry said a bit uncertainly

' _What the hell does that mean?'_ He wondered to himself as he left the classroom, not noticing that his headache was totally gone.

After Harry had left the classroom, Quirrell waved his wand around until he was satisfied that no one could be hiding in the room or listening in from the outside. After this, a voice spoke in the room. The voice was such, that if someone had actually been listening in they would have run screaming.

"Very interesting. I may have reason to allow the brat to live after all" The voice said, chuckling.

"My lord? What about our plans?" Quirrell asked.

"They remain unchanged. However, when you next have the opportunity you will discretely examine Potter with these spells" and the voice continued, explaining to Quirrell how to cast spells the vast majority of wizards had never even heard of, and that were only even described in extremely rare tomes.

Harry spent his afternoon break sitting alone, thinking about what Quirrell had told him. The real problem was, he could understand both sides of the debate. Magic should be free! Every nerve in his body told him that, the very feeling magic gave him told him that. But at the same time, if people really weren't afraid to use such powerfully dangerous spells the world would be way more dangerous. But other countries had different laws about it, and surely they were ok? Harry was so lost in his musings about their conversation that he didn't even remember the fact that Quirrell barely stuttered during it.

 **WHEW. ANOTHER CHAPTER DONE. I HAD A LOT OF FUN WRITING THIS ONE.**

 **BIG PROPS GO TO ALL THE FICS I'VE READ THAT DISCUSSED WHAT MAKES DARK ARTS DARK. THAT HELPED GIVE ME THESE IDEAS.**

 **REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW**

 **TILL NEXT TIME**


	8. Chapter 6

**AN: STILL DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER. EVEN THOUGH I'VE COPIED BITS OF THIS CHAPTER FROM THE OG.**

 **STILL LOOKING FOR A BETA. DROP ME A PM IF YOU'RE INTERESTED.**

 **I WANT TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS! REVIEW AND PM ME**

 **ENJOY**

Chapter Six - Halloween and onwards

Leaving the Slytherin common room on Halloween morning, Harry could feel the anticipation in the castle for the feast that night. The smell of baked pumpkin wafted through the castle, and there definitely were more bats and spiders around than usual.

Breakfast didn't seem to be much different than usual though, although there was pumpkin pie. The older students assured him that the hall would be decorated differently come the feast that night, but Harry could see no difference at that point.

"You know, in the muggle world people dress up in strange costumes on Halloween" Harry idly remarked to Draco as they headed out to Herbology.

"Really. Why?" Draco asked, his interest piqued

"No idea. But it's definitely much funnier in retrospect now that I know what witches and wizards look like"

In Herbology that day, they were busy learning the best way to prune a Spiky Bush. Harry was honestly surprised to learn that the plant's actual name was 'Spiky Bush', but he guessed at least it was pretty descriptive.

' _Be honest. It sounds like it was named by a toddler'_

By the time they were finished class, they were each nursing many minor cuts and pokes. They were given some extra time to wash before Potions, Professor Snape having reminded them to be exceptionally careful with making potions after handling plants.

"Remember, adding even a minute amount of an ingredient to a potion can change it. Ensure there is nothing on your hands that could contaminate your potions. The results would be worse than the garbage I am usually forced to grade"

After Potions, they all headed back to their rooms to have a quick wash before the feast.

* * *

Walking into the Great Hall for the Halloween feast was like walking into a totally different room to the one Harry had been eating in every day. It was richly decorated, with the floating candles stuck in Jack-O-Lanterns, and from what Harry could see they all had different shapes carved into them. There were thousands of bats flying around the hall, with moving skeletons draped on the walls.

Harry and Draco sat next to each other as usual, and like always food appeared on the plates.

They had just started eating when the doors slammed open and running footsteps could be heard. Harry turned around in his seat to see Professor Quirrell running up to the head table looking to be in an absolute state.

Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Troll - in the dungeons - thought you ought to know." He then sank to the floor in a dead faint. There was an uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.

"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

"What the hell are we meant to do? Our dormitories are in the dungeons. You know, where the bloody troll is!" Theo sounded really exasperated.

The other Slytherins were saved from answering by the arrival of Professor Snape, robes billowing behind him as he came to a stop next to their table.

"Slytherins will remain here. You may continue your feast. Prefects, you will be watching the doors at all times. If the troll comes through here, head to the back, there is a chamber to the side of the head table. It should be large enough for all of you if need be. Use Colloportus on the door. In fact, use it on the Hall doors immediately"

With that, he too left to go chase the troll.

"Alright. First years move to the back of the table, followed by second years and so on. If the troll does come through here you will immediately run to the chamber Professor Snape mentioned" That was Lionel Horner, the seventh year male prefect talking, "This way the older and more experienced students will be able to cover the retreat". Meanwhile, one of the other prefects had gone to close the Hall doors and use the spell Professor Snape had mentioned.

"Are trolls really that dangerous?" Harry asked Draco once they had settled in at the other side of the table. Oddly enough it was Tracey who answered.

"Kinda. Very spell resistant hides. Stupid enough to attack when outnumbered, so could be dangerous, but against that many seventh years," She finished with a shrug.

"Yeah, but surely the teachers will take care of it?" Daphne asked. She honestly looked quite unconcerned by the whole thing.

"Probably," Draco said

"Well, I'm eating. We may have to run from a rampaging troll, so probably better to do that on a full stomach" Harry said.

"I wonder how it got in?" Blaise said. "And when did Quirrell go? I didn't see him get up"

Not too long later Snape came to the Great Hall. He was absolutely fuming, and so no-one asked him questions once he told them that the troll had been taken care of and that they should head to bed immediately.

* * *

The next day, Harry was extremely surprised by the rumors going around that a bunch of Gryffindors had actually fought the troll. Not only that, supposedly it was Granger, Longbottom, and Weasley!

' _No way Longbottom could have survived an encounter with a troll. And what would Granger do? Show the troll her perfect test scores?"_

Worse, supposedly the three had actually won points for Gryffindor for doing that! Harry really doubted it all, until he heard a Gryffindor prefect talking about it matter-of-factly.

' _Well, that certainly explains why Professor Snape was so angry last night. If it had been Slytherins who had been so stupid we probably would have lost hundreds of points. Well, everyone knows everyone but Snape is biased against us'_

A big downside to this whole story was that those three seemed to have become much closer friends. Harry figured this out from seeing Longbottom and Weasley in the Library with Granger. It was getting really annoying, whenever they saw him there they would have some stupid comment. Well, really Weasley would have some stupid comment to say, Longbottom and Granger just looked embarrassed.

Harry had debated telling Professor Snape about how Ron was acting towards him, but he decided against it. It really wasn't that bad. If it would get worse he would always be able to tell him.

' _Or you could just kill him. Isn't that what you do Harry? Kill people because they hurt your feelings?'_

At least Harry was able to return Ron's acid. He had discovered a dry side to his humor, and he had found a few times that he could really turn it against that stupid redhead.

* * *

As the time drew nearer to Christmas, Harry found that he was quite looking forward to it. Oh, it wouldn't be the same as having a loving family around him, but from what he heard the Hogwarts Christmas feast was quite the party. And it would definitely be millions of times better than his Christmas' had been at the orphanage.

But Christmas feast aside, Harry was starting to feel that he could use the break. He had been pushing himself quite hard and was consistently one of the top of all their classes. In Defence and Charms, he was actually top of the class. At least, the Slytherin class. There were a few Ravenclaws ahead of him, and that _damn_ Granger. In Defence though, he was top all around. Ever since his conversation with Professor Quirrell, he had started to read up a lot on it, and even though he couldn't do them all properly, he had learned tons of new hexes and jinxes. He had hung back a few times after class to ask Professor Quirrell questions and was becoming really impressed with the man. He noticed that Quirrell barely stuttered when it was just the two of them, and wondered about it at first until he figured it was probably some nervous reaction to crowds.

At the beginning of December Draco came up to Harry in the common room, looking uncharacteristically hesitant.

"Harry, would you like to come stay with me over the Christmas break?"

Harry stared at him, shocked. Even though he felt as if he had come to terms with having friends and being liked, nothing had prepared him for an actual invitation to stay over at a friend's house. For two whole weeks!"

"Come on Harry, it may be cool at Hogwarts, but you have to see Malfoy Manor" Draco whined, seemingly taking Harry's silence as rejection.

"Draco, I'd love to! Please, tell your parents I'll be there. Thank you so much!"

"Fantastic. I'll owl my parents. They'll be pleased".

* * *

Harry started getting really excited for Christmas break. His excitement was building up and his mood was really good until he had one terrible day.

The day had started off well enough. He and Draco had brewed a perfect Forgetfulness Potion and had received a rare smile from Professor Snape instead of his customary sneer.

His good luck continued at the library during the lunch break. He had wanted to find a book that would explain transfiguration theory in a way that he could understand it. All the other books he had found on this topic had left him befuddled and rubbing his head in confusion at all the advanced terms used. That day, however, he had managed to find something which seemed to be exactly what he was looking for. The book was called a Theory of Transfiguration Grade 1, and flipping through it he found that he had some idea of what most of the words used meant.

It was as he was heading out of the library after checking the book out that his good mood began to evaporate.

He was weaving his way through the shelves when he heard something from behind a shelf that made him stop dead in his tracks.

"I'm telling you, Hermione, Snape is trying to steal it!"

' _Steal what? What is that Weasley talking about now?'_

"And I'm telling you, Ronald, that a teacher of all people would not be trying to steal something that Dumbledore is trying to keep safe!"

' _Well, Granger seems to be the voice of reason. What do they Think Professor Snape is trying to steal anyway?'_

"Well then Hermione, explain what I saw! His leg was all cut, and he was complaining about that dog!"

' _What the hell are they talking about?'_

"Maybe he just wanted to check that whatever is down there is safe?"

"Come on Hermione! That's the lamest thing I've ever heard. You just can't accept that a teacher could be evil"

"You haven't given me a real reason to think that Snape is evil!"

' _Professor Snape? Evil? That's ridiculous, he's been so kind to me'_

"Seriously? Don't you see the way he treats us? He's totally biased towards the Slytherins, and all of them are evil"

' _Huh? What?'_

"Come on Ron, they can't all be evil. I mean, Harry Potter's in Slytherin"

' _Why the hell am I getting dragged into this argument?'_

"He's the worst of them. How could he have defeated You-Know-Who unless he was already a really powerful Dark Wizard? And he's best friends with that Malfoy, and-"

Harry couldn't just listen to that anymore. His heart was pounding and his hands were actually shaking with rage.

' _He's not wrong. You are a Dark Wizard. You've already killed two people. Remember that? How you-'_

' _ **I'M GLAD I KILLED THEM, NOW SHUT UP'**_

Clearing his throat, Harry walked out from behind his shelf and into the path of the Gryffindors' vision. Their reactions were immediate, Granger letting out a surprised squeak and raising her hands to her mouth, Ron standing up, eyes widening and face reddening.

"So you like that hey" Harry said, voice quivering with the suppressed desire to scream and roar, "Talking about people behind their backs?"

"I-I-I" Weasley sputtered and started

"No, shut the hell up. You really think that a one-year-old baby could be a powerful enough Dark wizard to defeat the Dark Lord?" Harry asked, trying to inject a note of scorn into his voice, but not really succeeding, he was just too angry. "Dear Merlin, Weasley, you really are dumber than you look"

Harry stormed out of the library leaving their shocked faces to watch his back. He thought he heard Weasley shout something after him, but it was lost in the roaring in his ears.

' _I thought I was done with being the object of fear and scorn. I really thought things would be different here-'_

' _But Harry, things are different here. You've made friends, and there are adults who are looking out for you and-'_

' _And people are still talking about me! People still think I'm some evil, dangerous freak'_

Harry was so caught up in his mental ravings that he didn't even notice he was going to bump into someone until he had jostled the Groundskeepers' enormous torso. He had been walking with his eyes blurry from tears after all and was mostly looking at his feet anyways.

"'Ey, watch where yer goin' there! Oh, it's you 'Arry."

' _And now this idiot'_

"Hello Mr. Hagrid," Harry said, dully.

"Just call me Hagrid 'Arry. You know, I've been meaning to have you come over for tea"

"Maybe another time, sir, I just have something to do"

' _Yes. I need to get away from you and go brood'_

"You know, it's a real shame I haven' invited you already. You know I picked you up from yer paren's house?"

"Really?" Harry said, actually interested despite the torrent of emotions within him.

"Yep," Hagrid puffed out his chest a bit and stood a little straighter "Dumbledore knew 'e could trust me to get you out of there safely. Oh, it was terrible. The whole house in ruins, yer parents… An' you 'Arry, somehow you survived that"

' _Really? I was half sure I died there. I should have known this moron would have nothing to say worth hearing'_

"An' then, I brung you to your aunt and uncle. I think it's actually better you din't live with 'em. 'Orrible people I hear"

' _Wait, what? Aunt and uncle?'_

"My… Aunt and uncle?" Harry asked, really uncertainly

"Yeah. Muggles, of course, yer mother's sister an' 'er husband"

"And then you took me to the orphanage?"

' _Finally, someone other than Dumbledore who was involved in that. Someone I can demand some answers from"_

"Wha'? No! It was yer aunt an' uncle who took you there. I was so shocked, I thought with a house like theirs they'd defini'ely take you in. Just goes to show dunnit?"

"They didn't tell you they wouldn't keep me?"

Hagrid looked concerned now.

' _He probably wasn't meant to tell me this'_

"Er, you probably should speak to Professor Dumbledore about this. He knows a lo' more than me. Great man, Dumbledore"

"Oh. I will. But could you just please tell me what you do know?"

' _TELL ME YOU IDIOT, TELL ME'_

"I dunno 'Arry"

' _Play the sympathy card. He'll fall for that'_

"It's just that no-one's ever really explained to me about how I ended up in the orphanage. I didn't even know about my parents until Dumbledore came to talk to me, and I didn't even know I still have living family until right now! I've been thinking I was all alone, and you say I have family?"

Oh, Hagrid was definitely looking uncomfortable now.

"Well, I guess it can't hurt. I was only there when we left you, you know, Dumbledore came back to speak to them after they sent you to tha' place"

"Left me?"

"Yeah, we put you on the doorstep where they would see you, an' gave them a letter and-"

"You left me on the doorstep?"

"Well, you were in the basket an' had yer blanket an'-"

"You left me on a doorstep"

Hagrid shifted nervously.

"'Arry, are you alright? You soun'-"

"No, Hagrid, I am not fucking alright. You left me on a doorstep. On the doorstep of muggles like I was a newspaper. You didn't explain anything to them, just POP- Here's a baby"

"Wait, wait. I never said that. Dumbledore wrote them a letter an' said it would explain wha'ever they would need to know and-"

"Oh, Dumbledore wrote them a letter. EVERYTHING IS OK BECAUSE DUMBLEDORE WROTE THEM A LETTER. DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU PUT ME THROUGH?"

And then Harry was running, leaving Hagrid shaking his head with tears in his eyes. He was running down the staircases, not even sure where he was going, but he was running. Tears were streaming down his face and snot bubbling out of his nose, but he didn't even notice.

' _Fucking Dumbledore. Made it sound like it was all a great plan. Really, the stupid muggles just turned aside a doorstep baby. Oh, milkman, what do you have? Three bottles and a baby. It's his fault. He did this to me'_

Images ran through his head, memories of the worst times in the orphanage. Joseph and his group laughing as he cried in the mud. Opening his closet to find all his stuff soaked in water. Mr. Roberts unbuckling his belt.

Harry ended up crouched in an alcove. No idea where he was or what floor he was on. He just leaned back against the wall, stretched out his legs, covered his face with his hands and wept. He wept like he hadn't since his early years in the orphanage before he learned to mask his feelings.

After what felt like hours, he heard footsteps coming towards him. He was just wiping his eyes when he heard a concern laden voice

"Mr. P-P-Potter? A-A-Are you alright?"

Harry jumped to his feet. He definitely didn't want to appear weak in front of Professor Quirrell.

"Yes sir," He said, trying to hide his snuffling "Thank you, sir"

"A-A-Are you sure?"

And then, Harry broke his rule.

"No, sir. I'm actually not alright. Nothing is alright."

"W-Whats the m-matter?"

The concern and sympathy in his voice was almost enough to get Harry to break down again, but he was determined not to.

' _Why am I talking to him? I should be telling Professor Snape. He would try to help me'._ But Harry couldn't help it. Something just felt _welcoming_ about Professor Quirrell.

"Sir, how much do you know about how I grew up?"

The professor looked a bit taken aback by this line of conversation.

"N-Not p-particularly much"

"Well, it was terrible. I grew up in a muggle orphanage and- it was terrible" Harry's voice cracked a little bit on the last words. He wanted to go on, to explain just how bad it was, how it felt to live suffering at the hands of those who should have been his friends on a day to day basis. How the harassment needled and poked, how the neverending mockery drove into his skin until he felt like he would burst. How he had spent hours hiding from his tormentors. But he couldn't say that he couldn't put ten years of pain into words. So he simply repeated

"It was terrible"

He took a deep breath, looking down at his shoes, missing the red glint in Quirrell's eyes before he looked back up.

"And I've just found out that it was-it was Dumbledore's fault I went through that. He told me before, but he made it sound like it was all a great plan and it was necessary. It wasn't. He made stupid decisions and I lived in Hell and"

He was crying again, he couldn't carry on talking.

"Harry. It's alright. You're not in that place anymore"

"That's not what I'm upset about" He cried, wringing his hands, "I'm angry, and hurt, and betrayed. He should have kept me safe after my parents were killed. He should have"

"Dumbledore has a habit of being too trusting"

This made Harry look up, startled. He hadn't expected a teacher to say something like that.

"Oh yes" Quirrell went on "Far too trusting and naïve. Particularly when it comes to Muggles. A young wizard should never have been forced to live with them. They can not understand Magic. And it is human nature to fear that which is not understood"

"Sir?" Harry asked tentatively, "What should I do?"

Quirrell blinked as if he had forgotten where he was for a moment.

"D-D-Do? About what?"

"Dumbledore. I can't trust him after what I've learned. And I don't want to go back to the muggles"

"You don't need to trust Dumbledore. He is a powerful and learned wizard to be sure, but there are others. As for the muggles, speak to your head of house about looking for adoption within a wizarding family. Otherwise, you could always spend most, if not all your summers with one of your friends"

"Really? People would be willing to have me for that long?"

"Mr. Potter, you are often surrounded by friends. They seem to enjoy your presence. Those from wealthier families, like the Malfoy's or the Nott's, would surely be able to provide for you over a summer"

' _It could be. I mean, Draco has just invited me for two weeks. Maybe I'll always be able to get away from the Muggles'_

"Now Mr. Potter, run along. It's nearing curfew you kn-kn-know"

"Thank you, sir, really"

And Harry walked off, not noticing the spells being cast in his direction upon him by the Professor he was coming close to loving.

Not noticing the startled noise that did not come from Professor Quirrell's mouth.

 **WHOAH, THAT WAS INTENSE. AND A LOT OF FUN TO WRITE.**

 **NEXT UP: INTERLUDE, THEN CHRISTMAS BREAK**

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	9. Interlude II

**AN: JKR OWNS IT ALL.**

 **PLEASE READ AND REVIEW**

 **ENJOY**

Interlude II-Staff meeting.

Severus Snape detested staff meetings. They were nothing more than an opportunity for the other teachers and house heads to brag about their favorites and to complain about the troublemakers that they couldn't control. He barely had any trouble, even from the Weasley twins. Then again, Severus gave the children no room to maneuver with him. He knew that he was hated for it, but frankly, he didn't give a damn.

He zoned out Pomona's jabbering and thought about what he had to tell Albus. Potter had come to him the night before, and hadn't that been a fun conversation?

' _What was Albus thinking? Dropping him off like that. At Petunia's house, no less'._

As for the other things Potter had told him, he couldn't really care. He knew the Gryffindors reviled him and would merrily suspect him of anything, but he was irked that they knew about the stone.

And he was extremely annoyed by the other things Potter had overheard.

' _All Slytherins are evil. Sometimes I wish I could show those brats why that reputation had developed. Show them why I was feared once. Show them how they had made me into a monster full of hate and rage'_

To be fair, that wasn't quite true. He had always had more than an ample share of hate and rage, and the Dark Arts had been a wonderful way to express that. It had all changed when Lily died though. And it seemed it was all changing again.

Despite himself, he found that he quite liked the Potter boy. The boy was actually polite, had no preconceived ideas, and had a thirst to learn. And importantly, respected him. The previous night, after the boy had left his office Severus actually found himself smiling!

' _I won James Potter. You are dead, and I am guiding your son.'_

He had mused on it for hours and came to the conclusion that perhaps he was moving on. Moving on from Lily, moving on from the pit of bitterness and despair that he had wallowed in the past ten years. Of course, these thoughts had thrown him into an existential crisis. He solved it by conjuring a rabbit and crucioing it until the pitiful thing's heart burst. Always a way out of bad thoughts that.

As the meeting was coming to a close, the discussion turned, as Severus knew it would, to Harry.

"He's doing very well in my class. Top of his class" Squeaked little Filius.

"Mine as well. He's definitely making a major effort, often asks questions after class" McGonagall added.

"Yes, Mr. P-P-Potter is trying exceptionally hard. H-he is c-c-coming in first out of his whole y-y-year"

' _And so on, and so forth. I doubt anyone here but I know what he has been feeling about our esteemed headmaster'_ Severus thought, hiding his sneer.

"Excellent, are there any further concerns that should be brought to the room as a whole?" Dumbledore asked

"None other than the fact that Cuthbert isn't here, as usual. Are you sure we can't simply get the ministry to allow an exorcism, Albus?" Minerva asked.

Dumbledore sighed. "I wish it were so simple. As much as a good History teacher would help the students, I do not wish the ministry to be involved in Hogwarts any more than they already are". Dumbledore looked around the room, and when no one had anything to say he gave a small nod.

"Very well, we shall meet again before Easter. I wish everyone a pleasant Christmas, and shall see you all at the feast"

As the staff all filed out the room, Severus remained in his seat.

' _Well Albus, you wanted reports on Harry, you shall get your wish. I don't think that twinkle will still be in your eyes though'_

"Severus? Something on your mind?"

"Harry came to speak to me last night, Albus"

Albus' face took on a look of immediate worry.

"Oh? What did he have to say?"

' _That he detests you'_

"Well, firstly he overheard some Gryffindors, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger in the library. He was reticent to say, but Weasley was trying to convince Granger that I, apparently am trying to steal something a dog is guarding"

Albus' face had a flicker of surprise cross it. Privately, Snape rejoiced. It wasn't easy to shock the old Wizard, and though he greatly respected him, he still enjoyed doing so.

' _Admit it. After what Harry told you, you don't respect him nearly as much as you once did'_

"That is… Interesting"

"There is more. They were also saying how all Slytherins are evil, and Harry must be the evilest because he defeated Voldemort"

Albus looked absolutely flabbergasted at that.

"What?" He asked, voice trembling.

"Some nonsense about him having to be a more powerful dark wizard in order to survive. I found it laughable, and Harry obviously knew it to be nonsense, but he despises being thought to be evil"

"That does not surprise me at all" Albus muttered, entire body giving off a serious feeling.

"Harry admits that there is some bad blood between him and the Weasley boy. Some type of argument they had on the Hogwarts express. He reiterated multiple times that Weasley has done nothing more than the occasional insult and comment"

Albus didn't say anything, lost in thought. Snape went on.

' _And this is where the fun starts'_

"After he left the library, upset at what he had heard, Harry ran into Hagrid"

Albus looked up sharply at that, eyes piercing Severus.

"Hagrid apparently told him that you had left him on his aunt and uncle's doorstep with a note" Severus' voice gained a touch of cold fury. "He was most upset. He says when he heard that he ran away from Hagrid and hid for hours while he wept."

Albus looked like he had been punched in the gut. He opened his mouth to say something, but Snape raised a hand and carried on talking.

"No Albus. I don't want to hear why it was the best option. It was a foolish, detestable move. Harry is extremely angry with you and rightfully so. He said he doesn't trust you at all, and I can't blame him for that. Can you Albus?"

"No. I cannot. Over Christmas break, I will try to talk to him perhaps-" but Snape interrupted again.

"He will not be here. He has been invited to the Malfoys, and is extremely excited to get away for a break"

Albus' eyes closed tightly, as if in horrible pain.

"What have I done?" He whispered to himself.

"Furthermore, he has asked me how he would go about looking to be adopted by a wizarding family"

"Perhaps that would be best," Albus said in a sorrowful voice. "Do you think he could ever reconcile with me?"

Severus looked at Albus thoughtfully.

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. I hazarded some legilemency, and his mind and emotions are a mess right now. Give him time, and perhaps" he stressed that word "He will be willing to give you a chance. Right now he would probably punch you".

"And I would deserve it"

' _Yes. You would. After all, you said to me about Lily's child, you abandoned him on the street? Abandoned him to Petunia. What good did you see coming from that"_

Severus got up and strode from the room. As he was closing the door he heard Albus repeating to himself once again:

"What have I done?"

 **AS ALWAYS, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW.**


	10. Chapter 7

**AN: I NEITHER OWN HARRY POTTER NOR MAKE MONEY OFF OF THIS.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW AND P.M. ME. I WANT TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS!**

 **THANKS FOR READING**

 **ENJOY**

Chapter Seven—At Malfoy Manor (Part 1)

The ride from Hogwarts back to King's cross was far more subdued than the other direction had been. Harry was still very upset over what he had heard and been told and hadn't been talking much. His friends had commented on it, but oddly enough it had been Daphne who had pulled him into a tight hug before the break and whispered into his ear "Whatever it is that's been bothering you, you'll feel better about it after the break"

' _I'll tell Draco over the break. I just need to breathe a little first.'_

Draco had told Harry a little bit about what to expect at the Malfoy's. Apparently, they never had celebrated Christmas, as Draco told Harry on the journey to Hogwarts. However, since so many others did, they would send presents out to friends. Family presents were given on New Year's, to start the year off with. Christmas itself would be more of a solemn affair, with the family doing a small ceremony to mark the special time of year.

"It's all about the power and possibility of change you know? Like, Yule is the longest night, and after that, the nights start changing and becoming shorter. So we focus on how we can change and use change to benefit us"

Harry had just Hmmphed, not really sure what to say to that. It did sound interesting, but he wasn't sure what it practically meant to him. Draco had just carried on talking

"And it's the same with the summer solstice. Although in winter we celebrate our darker side, and in summer we celebrate our lighter sides"

"What do you mean, dark and light?" Harry had asked, intrigued

"Well, it's like-The dark emotions. Hate, and anger, and sadness. We celebrate those now. And in summer we celebrate happiness and love and stuff like that. Father will talk about it after our banquet, he always does"

"Cool," Harry had said. That did sound interesting.

"Your parents gonna pick us up from the platform?" Harry asked Draco. They were sitting in the compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Theo, Blaise, and Pansy were with them. Crabbe and Goyle were who knows where, and Daphne and Tracy had headed off to the loo.

"Of course" Draco sounded scandalized at the question "They wouldn't just leave us to find a way back"

"No I meant- Never mind, the other ideas are stupid"

"What are you guys gonna be doing over the hols?" Theo asked, sounding bored

"Dunno. Probably just hang out a lot. Fly a bit if it's not too bad out." Draco answered, "In fact, why don't you guys come over for a game of Quidditch?"

"I'm in," Blaise said quickly "If I don't get out of my house a bit my mother will drive me mad. She loves hosting parties and stuff this time of year"

"That really doesn't sound too bad," Pansy said

"It would be better if there was anyone closer to my age there, but there never is. I just have to listen to them talk politics all night, and it gets boring real fast"

"What does?" Daphne asked, having walked in just in time to hear the end of Blaise's sentence.

"Blaise entertaining his mother's guests," Theo said with a smirk

"Oh, I don't have to entertain them, I just have to appear the perfectly mannered and attentive young man," Blaise said, "While all my mother's friends go on about how handsome I am"

"Can you blame them?" Tracey asked innocently, and the compartment was quiet for a second before raucous laughter exploded from it.

"Oh, my handsome man" Theo said in a falsetto, while pretending to swoon "Please, keep me company"

The laughter continued, and soon everyone was cracking jokes at each other's expense. Harry smiled. This would be a good break, he just needed to get away from Hogwarts and not think about all those things he had heard for a bit.

' _What, you don't want to think about how everyone thinks you're evil? Or about how the greatest wizard of our time dropped you like a sack of potatoes at some muggles' house?'_ Harry's inner voice whispered insidiously. It had stopped bringing up his murders for the most part, and instead was pushing and poking him about other things.

The rest of the ride passed quickly. Harry's friends kept up conversation and games of exploding snap and chess for most of the time, although he did get an hour or so to read.

Disembarking the Hogwarts express, Harry was surprised to see Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy waiting for Draco and him.

' _It's weird seeing people who actually seem to care'_

Harry wondered for a moment what would be had his parents never been killed. Would they be fetching him instead of the Malfoys? Would they have been there early, or would he have been forced to wait for them? Would they mind if he was in Slytherin even though they were Gryffindors?

' _All of them are evil'_

Or would they think like Weasley?

"Come on Harry! They're waiting!" Draco pushed him a little bit, and Harry shook himself out of his thoughts. It had been many years since he had fantasized about life with his parents, and he didn't want to start doing that again. He got his trunk and followed Draco off the train.

As soon as they got close enough, Mrs. Malfoy grabbed Draco in a tight hug. Harry smirked at Draco's obvious discomfort. He clearly didn't want all of his friends to see him in this type of position.

"Hello Harry" Mr. Malfoy greeted him with a small incline of his head.

"Hello, Mr. Malfoy. Thank you very much for letting me come to you sir"

"It is our pleasure" He looked over to his wife and son "Narcissa, please side-along Draco and his trunk, I will bring Harry."

Mr. Malfoy held out his arm. "You've never been apparated have you, Harry?"

"No sir"

"Well, grip my arm tightly, and be prepared for some discomfort"

Harry grabbed hold of Mr. Malfoy's arm and held it in a strong grip.

"Three, Two, and One"

Pressure, being squeezed. His whole body being squashed until it felt he would explode and then-

"Ah, we've arrived"

Harry stumbled, shaken up. That was apparition? That was terrible! He had been so excited for apparition- To disappear from one place and appear in another sounded amazing. But that? That was horrific.

Mr. Malfoy must have seen some of the discomforts on Harry's face.

"The first time is horrible. It gets a lot easier and less painful" He said

Well, that at least sounded hopeful for the future.

Harry looked around, the sunlight no longer shocking his eyes.

His jaw dropped open.

The house he was facing could be a palace, it was that amazing. It was enormous, with huge gardens around it. Through the gate and hedge, Harry could see large birds meandering around the garden and beautiful fountains.

"Is this your house sir?" Harry said, wonder piercing his voice.

Mr. Malfoy looked at his expression and gave a small laugh.

"Yes, it is. Be welcome to Malfoy Manor" He said, as from behind them a loud CRACK! Could be heard.

Harry turned to see Draco and Mrs. Malfoy.

' _Draco doesn't look sick at all. It must get better with practice'_

Harry followed the Malfoys through their wrought-iron gate, noticing with interest the dragons carved on it.

He walked through the spacious garden up to the house, looking around with awe and a bit of jealousy.

' _Draco grew up with this?!'_

He had known the Malfoys were wealthy, but it was one thing to know that, and it was another thing altogether to see it.

They walked into the manor, and immediately a small _creature_ appeared, bowing before them.

It was about the height of Harry's knees, with incredibly long ears and large eyes.

"Dobby, take Draco's trunk to his room and take Harry's to the bedroom closest to Draco's" Narcissa commanded the small thing.

"Yes Mistress". It took a trunk in each hand and started walking.

"So Harry, what do you think?" Draco asked

Harry took another look around. The inside of the manor was just as elegant and spectacular as the outside. There was a giant coat of arms next to a large family tree on the wall, and it was lit by an enormous chandelier that glinted and let off prisms. And that was just the entrance room.

"It's amazing," Harry said and meant it.

Draco broke into a wide grin.

"Come, let me show you your room"

Harry followed Draco up the great curving staircase on to the second floor of the manor.

"Third floor is where Father's study is. And the library of course"

Draco smirked at Harry's expression.

"Don't worry Harry, there'll be plenty of time for you to check it out. Father may even let you borrow some books"

"And this is your room, mine is the one next door," Draco said, opening the door to Harry's room.

It was big.

Harry felt he could have fitted three bedrooms from the orphanage into it, and those had three or four people in each of them

"It's great. Thanks, Draco, really"

"Of course it is. Get unpacked, I want to show you the grounds"

With that, Draco left to his own room.

Harry looked around the room he would be staying in. The carpet was richly decorated, with what was presumably the Malfoy Family crest splayed upon it. The tapestries begged closer inspection, they seemed to be depicting all types of heroic and important actions done by Malfoys throughout the centuries.

His bed looked large enough to swallow him and was soft and welcoming. There was a thick oaken table next to it, with a large candelabra upon it.

' _I think I'm going to be very comfortable here'_

"Harry? You ready yet?" Draco called from his own room

"Just a minute" He called back and hurried to unpack his own trunk.

"Remember boys, we shall eat an early dinner tonight, so don't be out for longer than an hour or so"

"Ok mother, we'll make sure of it"

Draco took great pleasure in showing Harry their spacious gardens and fields and explaining some of the histories behind them. Most of his stories involved his ancestors tricking their muggle neighbors out of their deeds until the Malfoys owned all the surrounding lands. Some of these stories were absolutely hilarious.

"And then the muggle, he goes to Septimus" Draco was sniggering and couldn't really talk "And he says 'I keep feeling like I've forgotten something'" They boys burst out laughing, Harry clutching his stomach.

Suddenly they heard a crack, and rubbing the tears out of their eyes saw the strange thing standing in front of them.

"Mistress Narcissa says that Masters Draco and Harry must come inside now," It said, its eyes never leaving Harry's face.

"Ok," Draco said, still with merriness in his voice, "Tell her we're starting walking from the eastern paddock now"

"Yes, Master Draco," the creature said with a bow, before disappearing with another loud crack.

"Well, come on Harry, you heard Dobby. Get up, we've got to head back now" Draco said, stretching a hand out for Harry to pull himself up with.

"Draco?" Harry asked, "What is that thing? Dobby, you called it?"

"Oh Merlin Harry, I always forget you grew up with muggles," Draco said, looking a bit embarrassed "Dobby's a house-elf"

"A house-elf?"

"Yeah. All the good families have them. They're our servants. Although Dobby is a bit madder than most"

"I think I've read about them" Harry said slowly "Something about their magic working differently to wizards magic"

"Well, if you can call it that. Father says they can't use magic for most of the things wizards can"

"And they just work for you?"

"You can set them free, but really, who would do that? A house-elf without a master would be like, like, a wizard without a wand! It just doesn't work"

"Oh"

"You get it?" Draco nudged Harry, "It just doesn't work"

"Ha bloody ha"

Dinner that night was a lovely, but simple affair. Simple that is, according to the Malfoy's standards. Harry still ate better than he ever had before Hogwarts. By the time they reached dessert, both Harry and Draco were trying to hide their yawns.

"Ok boys," Mrs. Malfoy said briskly "Shower if you wish, and off to bed"

"But Muum" Draco whining

"No buts. There will be plenty of time over the rest of the holidays for whatever you wish to do, but only if you're awake enough to do so"

They headed up to their rooms, and minutes later were both asleep.

* * *

The next day, Mrs. Malfoy took the boys to do some Christmas shopping.

Harry bought gifts for all his friends. For Theo, he bought a mirror that would make mocking comments at him. Theo was notoriously vain. For Blaise, he bought a new set of Wizards Chess. He had gotten quite sick of his constant complaints about how slow and old the pieces were.

For Daphne, Pansy, and Tracey he had found a whole set of Make-up. Unlike the mirror he had gotten for Theo, the mirrors in these sets would actually offer advice. He bought a set for each of them.

He had been very unsure about what to buy for Crabbe and Goyle until Draco told him to just buy them food. He bought them enormous bunches of sweets, that had been shaped to look like fruits.

For Draco, he found a book on Quidditch tactics and another book on the history of noble pureblood families. While he wouldn't be giving them to Draco until New Years, he didn't want to leave it till later when he had found them now.

Harry had spent quite a bit of money by the time all was done, but he really didn't mind.

' _I've never had friends to spend money on before. Hell, I've never had money to spend before. Maybe I should buy Weasley a book on manners?'_

Snickering to himself, Harry grabbed hold of Mrs. Malfoys hand for the apparition.

Harry and Draco were sitting on a mound near a large field. They had been flying for hours and were taking a breather. Harry had come to love flying and had decided to definitely try out for the Slytherin Quidditch team the following year. It wasn't such real Quidditch when it was just him and Draco playing, but a whole lot of their friends would be coming in a few days for a game of Quidditch.

"Harry," Draco said, voice a bit _softer_ than usual "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Harry said, his heart starting to race.

' _Here it comes. Well, it'll probably be good to talk about it with someone who isn't a teacher'_

"What's been up with you lately? The last few weeks you've been seriously withdrawn. Daphne says she's worried about, and I am too"

"So you're all talking about me hey?" Harry asked, words coming fast. His breath caught a little bit, and he felt oddly hot

"Harry, you're our friend. Of course, we talk about you when you're acting strange" Draco said, puzzled.

Harry deflated, his anger leaving as soon as it had come.

' _Having friends is far more complicated than it seems from outside'_

"It's just. Well, I was in the library and I heard them talking about me"

"Heard who?"

"That tosser Weasley and Granger"

"The blood-traitor and the mudblood. Harry, you really don't have to care about what they have to say at all"

"It's not just that. I'll start at the beginning. Weasley said Snape was trying to steal something, and Granger wouldn't believe him. Weasley said something about Snape being evil, and how all Slytherins are evil"

Draco laughed. "Really Harry, that's got you upset? You know that they all think that, it's not new"

Harry just carried on, ignoring the interruption.

"Granger said we can't all be evil because the great Harry Potter is in Slytherin, then Weasley starts talking about how I'm the worst of all, and I survived the Dark Lord because I was such a powerful dark wizard"

Draco sighed. "Harry, seriously. I know that overhearing people talk about you isn't nice, but it really isn't that bad. The way you've been going on, moping and-"

"You don't understand Draco! You don't understand my life!"

"Then tell me, Harry"

Harry had stood up, and was pacing around now.

"You know I grew up in a Muggle orphanage, but you can't know what it was like. They hated me Draco, hated and feared me because I could do things that didn't make sense. I had no friends. Not one. Every time I would start becoming friends with someone, they would be taught not to be nice to me. They spoke about me whenever something went wrong. Saying things like, the freak did it, or it's the weirdo's fault. Our rooms were randomly assorted Draco, and people fought not to be my roommate. They were all so scared of the freak. They thought I was possessed Draco, and it just got worse when I defended myself. When I-When I—"

' _When you killed Joseph. C'mon Harry, tell your first friend how you're a murderer'_

"When you what?" Draco asked, entranced.

"There was a boy named Joseph," Harry said slowly, voice barely above a whisper "He was the worst of them. Him and his gang made my life a misery. Always mocking me, always stealing my stuff. Pouring water on me in the middle of the night. Beating me up. He broke my leg once. He got worse after the family that adopted me brought me back. He beat me bad, going on about how I was a devil"

Draco looked horrified, his hand covering his mouth.

"I saw him one night. He was standing at the top of the stairs. He couldn't see me. He wanted to go downstairs, probably for some water"

"What did you do?" Draco whispered.

"I just wanted him to fall. I just wanted him to fall and break his neck"

Harry stopped. He stood still for a moment, the memory bright and cloying in his mind.

"He suddenly flew forward as if he had been kicked. I remember how he hung in midair for a second. He fell like he had been thrown down. He died. I killed him. I'm a murderer Draco"

Before he knew it, he was crying, weeping. He managed to get himself under control and wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve.

"Harry, I-"

"No Draco. I understand. You wouldn't want to be friends with a killer"

"You absolute idiot! Of course, I still want to be your friend! That muggle deserved it, and a lot worse too. I can't believe you had to experience that, Harry. I'm so sorry"

Harry felt like he had been slapped. Draco wasn't running away in fear, trying to warn people about him. Draco still wanted to be his friend.

' _Why don't you tell him about Mr. Roberts then? See if he still wants to be your friend then, you dirty, disgusting-'_

"Harry, he was just a muggle. You were right to do it. He was just a stupid muggle."

Harry wanted to cry with relief. Draco was on his side!

"But, when I hear that Weasley talking like that, it just brings it all back. Takes me back to when I-"

"Let Weasley talk! He knows nothing! He should be afraid of you Harry, that's what his kind deserve"

"His kind?"

"Harry, people like Weasley just talk about how great muggles are, and how we should respect them and treat them well. What you're telling me now just proves more and more about how muggles are barely any better than animals. They fight against those they're afraid. They need to be shown why they should fear us"

Harry wasn't quite sure who Draco was talking about at the end, muggles or Weasley, and was about to ask when Draco carried on.

"I just can't believe you were left to live with them"

That reminded Harry of how this all started. It had really been his conversation with Hagrid that upset him far more than what he had heard Weasley say.

"Draco, I need to tell you the rest of what got me so upset"

"Ok"

"After I left the library, I ran into Hagrid. Literally ran straight into him"

"Well, seeing that oaf does upset me, so I can see how-"

"He told me how he picked me up from the ruins of my parent's house and brought me to Dumbledore. They left me on my muggle aunt's front door. Left me there in the middle of the night, in a basket" Harry said, bitterness in his tone.

"They did what?!"

"They left me, in a basket, with a blanket and letter to my aunt about why she has to take me in. She dropped me off at the orphanage because she hated magic and was too selfish to raise me. But the wizard who everyone says is the greatest wizard in the world left me on a fucking doorstep Draco"

Draco looked absolutely shocked. Harry just carried on.

"When Dumbledore came to the orphanage, he made it sound like I was left there because of some whole great plan to prevent Death Eaters from finding me. But it was really because he just didn't care about me. Everything I went through, the nightmare that my life has been until Hogwarts, is because Dumbledore did nothing more than leave me at some stupid fucking muggles' house."

"Harry, you have to tell Father this"

"Why? What can he do? I asked Snape about adoption in the wizarding world, and apparently-"

"Screw that Harry. Father could get Dumbledore tried for that. And my parents would probably be happy to adopt you"

"Really?"

"Well, I'm sure. But even if they can't legally adopt you, you could still stay here over the summers. Mother already said something about that"

Harry simply didn't know what to do with this information. He had never experienced such love and kindness. His heart soared with hope.

"Harry, after Yule night, you must speak to my Father. He'll be very busy up until then, but after that, you must"

"It's a deal Draco. I'm done with keeping this all hidden and secret"

 **AS ALWAYS, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW.**

 **THERE WILL BE ONE MORE CHAPTER AT THE MALFOYS, THEN ROUGHLY 3 OR 4 CHAPTERS, AN INTERVAL, AND THE EPILOGUE. THEN THE SEQUEL WILL BEGIN. AS I'VE SAID BEFORE, THIS YEAR WILL NOT HAVE MUCH ACTION, AS IT IS MUCH MORE OF A PREPARATION FOR THE NEXT SIX YEARS. BUT JUST Y'ALL WAIT FOR NEXT YEAR AND ONWARDS. IT WILL BE CRAZY.**


	11. Chapter 8

**AN: WOE IS ME, I OWN NOTHING OF VALUE. PARTICULARLY NOT THE RIGHTS TO HARRY POTTER**

 **PLEASE REVIEW OR P.M ME. I WANT TO HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS AND CRITIQUE!**

 **ENJOY**

Chapter eight—At Malfoy Manor (Part 2)

The Malfoy's may not have celebrated Christmas, but nevertheless, they had a fantastic feast. Harry thought it could even rival the Hogwarts food, and Draco had told him that Hogwarts had an army of house-elves working there.

After Dinner, Mr. Malfoy stood up. He was at the head of the table, with the fire merrily crackling behind him.

"Tonight we mark the changing of the seasons. Tonight we mark change. To survive one can stay stagnant. To thrive, to be a leader and head we must be capable of change, and we must control the change"

He paused to take a sip of his brandy, his shadow dancing upon the wall.

"Tonight, we mark our emotions. We mark the emotions that make us human and give us power. We feel our hate, we feel our rage. We feel our lust, our fear, our sadness, our desire to inflict pain. We mark these because they are ours. They are ours to control. We control our emotions, they do not control us. They must be used and used properly. Tonight, we honor the parts of ourselves that we must keep in chains to be used periodically, and we thank our darker parts for our success"

He suddenly spun, his robes flying behind him and threw his glass of brandy into the fire. The glass shattered, and the flames leaped higher for a moment.

"Tonight we celebrate that which gives us power," He said, still facing the flames. "Tonight, we celebrate that which separates us from the weak. Tonight, we celebrate that which fools hide away from"  
He spun around again and looked around the table.

"The rest of this night is for meditation. Think about how to be powerful"  
Harry followed Draco up to their rooms. He tried to say something, but Draco quickly shushed him.

He sat on his bed thinking. Thinking about his life, and about the things he had done.

People who he respected and liked were telling him that he had been right to kill those muggles. He had always been taught that murder was categorically wrong. Lucius' words echoed in his mind

' _They must be used'_

He had been feeling rage when he had killed Joseph. He had felt the desire to inflict pain when he had done what he had to Mr. Roberts.

' _Barely any better than animals. They need to be shown why they should fear us'_. Draco's words spoke in his mind.

' _They deserved it'_ That was Snape.

They were right, Harry realized with his mind feeling clearer than ever before. He had been right in killing those muggles. They had deserved it.

A great weight seemed to lift itself off Harry's shoulders, one he had never realized he was carrying. He wanted to laugh, the whole world seemed brighter. He had been in the right! He didn't need to carry Joseph's corpse with him. Joseph brought about his own death, and Mr. Roberts too.

Let Weasley talk about him, what did he know about hardship?

He was asleep minutes later, with a small smile on his face.

* * *

The Quidditch game was a huge amount of fun. Theo, Blaise, Crabbe, Goyle, and Daphne all played, with Tracey and Pansy just watching and heckling.

Tracey and Pansy had refused to play even though it would have meant evening out the sides, but they made it work by having Harry switch teams every so often. He played as either Seeker or Chaser and found that he could really hold his own in those positions. A few times when he had been Seeker he even caught the Snitch before Draco, who had been playing for most of life, managed to.

Theo managed to convince them all to take a dip in the large pool, even though it was midwinter. Of course, the water itself was warm, but coming out of it into the frigid air was something else altogether.

"I'm going to kill you for this Theo" Daphne said, teeth chattering as she wrapped her arms around herself to try to keep warm.

"It's really not that bad Daph" Tracey shouted from the other side of the pool, "You just need to ignore the cold"

"Ignore the cold she says" Daphne grumbled, "How am I meant to go about doing that?"

"Just think of fires, and hot chocolate, and all the warm things waiting for us inside" Harry offered

"If we've got all that waiting inside, why are we out here?" She asked

"Good point," Harry said, feeling like he was going to freeze "Hey Draco, I'm heading inside to get changed"

Draco just waved them off, to busy laughing at something Crabbe had done, and Harry and Daphne headed to the house.

Harry called for Dobby, and a few minutes later he and Daphne were sitting in front of a warm fire with mugs of steaming hot chocolate.

"Thanks, Dobby," Harry said and was thus rather surprised when the house-elf burst into tears.

"Master Harry even gives thanks to Dobby, as if Dobby is worthy," The mad thing said before disappearing.

Harry looked over at Daphne bemused, but she was just chuckling.

"Draco has been saying his house-elf is loony for years. I always thought it was just him needing something to complain about" she said.

"He's been pretty normal, although he stares at me a lot"

"What can you expect? You are really famous. Probably even creatures like him are in love with you"

Harry sipped his hot chocolate. It really was delicious.

"I'm really glad Harry, you seem to be much more yourself," Daphne said, slightly more quietly than she had been speaking before.

"Yeah, I just needed some time I guess"

"What actually happened?" She asked gently.

"I just-I overheard Weasley talking about me, and it upset me. And then I learned a bit more about how I came to live in an orphanage, and it hurt a lot"

Harry could feel the anger rising.

' _Control it, like Mr. Malfoy said. Save it till it will be useful'_

"What did you learn?"

"That Dumbledore does stupid things, and other people end up paying the price. It's his fault I live there Daph"

Daphne was silent, wearing a thoughtful expression.

"Well, it's only really for the summer right? Maybe you can come stay at Draco then, or even Theo or Blaise"

"What about you?" Harry said lightly

"I don't think my parents would be too pleased with me bringing a boy home for break" She said seriously, and they both laughed.

* * *

Draco, true to his word showed Harry the Malfoy family library. Like the rest of the rooms in the house, it had the Malfoy family crest painted above the door, although the library had the words 'Ex Libris' embossed just above the coat of arms.

It was awesome.

Harry immediately knew what he wanted to have in his own home one day. The bookshelves reached the high ceiling, with chairs next to them that Draco said would raise you up to the shelf you wanted with the pull of a lever. The shelves covered the walls, and there were finely embossed oak tables next to comfortable armchairs. It definitely had fewer books than the Hogwarts library but felt far more welcoming.

"That shelf and up is all books on the Dark Arts," Draco said, pointing to a shelf that was about a head or two higher than them, "Father said I could start reading them once I start Hogwarts. I haven't had much of a chance yet though"

Harry's jaw dropped. That was more than half the books in the room!

"But aren't the Dark Arts illegal?" Harry said, "I mean, cant your father get into trouble?"

"Feh. Those laws are stupid. Anyways, just owning the books isn't illegal yet. Father says they're heading in that direction though."

"Isn't he worried?"

"As if they would have the balls to raid Malfoy Manor. Anyways, father says a nice donation takes care of everything"

"Well Draco, if your father lets, shall we see some of these books?"

"Why Harry, that sounds like a fun idea. At least for once, your book plans involve someone else"

They spent hours looking at the books, pointing out the particularly gross and gruesome curses.

"Look, this one turns you inside out! The pictures are- interesting"

"And check this potion out. It says it's the potion version of the Imperius. Can only be removed with the antidote too"

"Eeew. This pulls your skin off but keeps you alive all along. Jeez, could you imagine casting that?"

"I could think of it," Harry said, thinking of Weasley and immediately feeling a bit sick at the thought.

Harry found a book on the theory of the Dark Arts and immediately started reading. It seemed to agree with what Quirrell had told him about the Dark Arts being powered by negative emotions. The author seemed to scorn other types of spells, calling them 'Pallid imitations only used by those too weak and unworthy of casting the true magic'. It was really interesting, there was a list of 'normal' spells side by side with their Dark counterparts, and the author went to great pains to show how each of the Dark spells was the more useful one. The book also had some strong words for those Wizards who cared for Muggles.

'The strong will survive, and those fools who pander to Muggles and their ilk show themselves to be unworthy of that survival'.

"Harry?" Draco said, breaking Harry's concentration

"Yeah?"

"I really think you should talk to Father. We're heading back to Hogwarts next week, and I think it's best if you talk to him sooner rather than later"

"But, what do I even say?"

"Tell him what you told me yesterday. Well, you can leave out the whole thing with Weasley, but tell him how bad it is in the orphanage. Tell him why you've been living there"

Harry thought for a moment. "Do you think I need to tell him about-about what I did?" He ended in a whisper.

Draco had a very calculating look on his face.

"I think so, Harry. It's up to you, but it would be best. If he understands just how bad it is there, he can help you, Harry. But he needs to know"

"I don't want him to think badly of me. To think of me as a murderer"

Draco gave a laugh. "Harry, I promise you this: My father will not think badly of you for killing a Muggle. Would you think badly of someone who slaughters a pig? It's the same thing"

"Pigs can't think Draco! Pigs don't have feelings and-"

"And Muggles can barely think, compared to Wizards. How can they? They're missing out on half of the world because they don't have magic, how can they really think? You've seen their science, it's all nonsense! We do things every single day that they have proven are impossible. They're like monkeys Harry"

"You're right Draco," Harry said, not wanting an argument, "It's just, they're humans too"

"If they're humans, then we aren't, Harry"

* * *

Harry knocked on Mr. Malfoy's study door. He was feeling quite apprehensive about this, to be honest. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy had been nothing but kind and generous to him-Draco even told him they were going to buy him a New Year's gift- But still, to open himself up so much was not like him. He had told Draco, but he had plenty of time to become close enough to Draco that he felt like he could trust him. He knew he could trust Mr. Malfoy, but knowing something and feeling it in his heart were not quite the same thing.

"Enter" came Mr. Malfoy's voice from inside the room. Heart thudding in his chest, Harry stepped into the room.

"Ah, Harry. Draco said you wanted to speak with me. Please, sit down"

Harry sat, squirming a little. His stomach felt like a bucket of snakes.

' _Why did I agree to this?'_

' _Because you wanted to stop living in secrecy. That's what you told Draco, anyways'_

"How can I help you, Harry?"

"Draco said I should talk to you, sir. I've been having some issues, and he said you might be able to help"

Mr. Malfoy raised an eyebrow at this, then said

"Well, I may be able to. Tell me what's been going on please"

"Uh, you know I was raised in a muggle orphanage?"

Mr. Malfoy's brow knotted, as he gave a small nod.

"It's uh, a horrible place sir. I've been bullied my whole life. They always used to pick on me and mock me, because things that made no sense to them happened around me. I know now that I was doing magic, but I didn't then, and I was scared of what was happening and alone, and-"

Harry's throat clenched up. All his instincts were shouting at him not to show weakness, not to trust, but he ignored them and plunged onwards, voice crackling.

"They made my life a misery. Every day, every night something else would happen. They beat me up loads of times, and when I got older and the magic came more often it just got worse"

Harry stopped as Mr. Malfoy opened his mouth

"How do you mean, worse?"

"The beatings got worse sir. More often and-and-and they beat me harder. They broke my leg. They made sure anyone new to the orphanage knew not to sit next to me. They-they would steal my books, and tear out pages from the middle"

"And no-one stopped this?"

"No-one knew, not really. They all knew that something was going on, but didn't really care enough to do anything about it. Too many other kids to look after"

Mr. Malfoy gave a muttered "Muggle scum", and Harry carried on.

"I was adopted once. They brought me back, they were scared of me"

"Harry, Muggles know nothing. Of course, they were afraid of you. As a child, you had more power than they did"

"I know that now sir, but back then I didn't. I just knew that there was something wrong with me and that was why-"Harry cut off, wiping his tears away.

' _NO WEAKNESS! NO TRUST! HE WON'T HELP, ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE WEAK'_

"The one kid, Joseph. He was the worst. And I-I-I killed him" Harry said, muttering by the end.

He was looking down, and so didn't see the way Mr. Malfoy's eyes widened, and a look of shock briefly crossed his immaculate face. It was quickly replaced by his blank expression, but it had been there.

"You-"

"I killed him, sir. I just wanted him to fall down the stairs and die, and he did"

There was a pause.

' _Here it comes. I'm going to get kicked out of his house, maybe he'll call the police, Aurors I mean, and then-'  
_

"Well done," Mr. Malfoy said softly.

Harry looked up so sharply he thought he heard his neck creak.

"What?" He whispered

"Well done, Harry. You rid yourself of an enemy. From how you describe him, this child was less deserving of life than the average muggle. He brought his fate upon himself. So I say to you, Harry. Well done"

Harry was shocked, not just by what the man had said but by the sincerity evident in his voice as well.

"I, I" and then he was crying too hard to speak. Embarrassed, he tried to stifle it, but he couldn't. Like a river bursting free of a dam so his tears flowed out torrentially.

' _I thought I was over this! Why can I not talk about this without crying?'_

Mr. Malfoy waited patiently for Harry to finish his tears. To Harry, with his cheeks burning with shame, it felt like hours had passed. It had actually only been a few minutes, minutes that gave Mr. Malfoy important time to think.

"Harry, let me tell you something. My late father, Abraxas Malfoy became enamored with a muggle science. The science of evolution. As you were raised amongst them, I will assume you are conversant with it?"

This was not quite what Harry had expected.

"I think so. How humans were originally apes?"

"Quite so. My father believed, as do I, that wizards and witches are a step beyond muggles on the evolutionary tree. We are no longer the same species as them. An interesting thing about evolution—The weak die off, and the strong survive."

Harry thought about that a little.

' _Is he saying that-'_

"Muggles, Harry, do not deserve to survive if they cannot fight for it. Survival of the fittest, and we are more fit. You are not a murderer, Harry. You put down a rabid beast. You should feel proud"

' _Well, first let me stop crying when I talk about it, and then we'll see about being proud'_

"In fact, at one point Muggle hunting was a common and perfectly lawful sport. Alas, our recent governments do not care for such pastimes"

There were a few minutes of silence while Harry thought best about what he wanted to say. Mr. Malfoy broke it first.

"Is that all you wished to speak to me about, Harry?"

"No, sir. I found out, that the reason I have been brought up in an orphanage is because Dumbledore was too incompetent to get me to a family who would care for me. He tried leaving me on my muggle aunt and uncles doorstep, but they gave me to the orphanage. When he met me at the orphanage, he told me a whole story about how I was put there to protect me from Death Eaters, but it was really just because he made a stupid move first"

"Albus Dumbledore often does such things. He will try to cover it all up and make himself seem to be the best thing to happen to wizardkind. Would you like me to act on this? To try to bring him to trial? It will not be easy, but it may satisfy your desire for vengeance"

' _Do I want vengeance on him? I don't even know'_

"No sir, thank you though. Draco actually mentioned that possibility a few days ago, and I thought about it, but I don't want it"

"Why not?"

"It would be all over the newspapers and radio. People already look at me as their savior, I don't want them looking at me with pity"

"That is—Understandable"

"Thank you, sir. What I do want though, is to no longer have to go back to those muggles. I want to put myself up for adoption, but I don't know how"

Mr. Malfoy looked extremely thoughtful for a few minutes before speaking.

"Harry, adoption in the wizarding world is a very difficult procedure. I can't speak as an expert, but from what I have heard it is a very rare and complex thing to do. It would give you the same issues of the media, being that it is so rarely done"

"Really?"

"Indeed. I only know of one case of Wizarding adoption that has occurred in recent years, and even that got a report in the Prophet. If something like that, involving you to occur, it would be front-page news"

"So what can I do, sir? I can't go back to those Muggles"

"No, you can't. I am not promising anything, not before I know more, but I will do some discreet research. Perhaps Narcissa and I may be able to-informally adopt you if you will" Mr. Malfoy said, still looking lost in thought. "Yes, that could work. You would spend your summers here, no need to change any legal documents. Your vault could stay under your control. Yes, that could definitely work". Looking at Harry, he gave a small smile "I think Draco would quite enjoy that"

Harry's heart skipped a beat.

' _The Malfoys are willing to take me in! They want me!'_

"Really sir? You would be willing to do that for me?"

"Harry, please. I would be honored to do that for you. I could not, with a clean conscience allow you to rot amongst the Muggles. You have far too much potential for that"

"Thank you, sir, thank you so much"

Harry started walking out of the room when Mr. Malfoy's voice halted him.

"Harry. When we are in my home, you may call me Lucius. Good night"

Harry lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Sleep was far, far away from him this night. He was wanted! Someone wanted to take him in! Not just anyone, but the Malfoy's, one of the most respected and important wizarding families was willing to take him in. When he finally drifted off to sleep, he dreamt of living with a family who cared for him.

After Harry had left his study, Lucius stared at the closed door for a few moments, before shaking his head a little and summoning a glass of firewhiskey to his hand. He took a sip and chuckled under his breath.

"Who would have thought?"

 **THANK YOU FOR READING. NOTE—THE EVOLUTIONARY SCIENCE DESCRIBED IN HERE IS NOT CORRECT, AND IS NOT MEANT TO BE CORRECT. NEITHER HARRY, LUCIUS, NOR ABRAXAS ARE EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGISTS, AND BOTH ABRAXAS AND LUCIUS ARE PUSHING AN AGENDA, AND THUS WILL BE PRESENTING THE INFO FOR THEIR OWN MEANS.**

 **THE SEQUEL WILL BE POSTED AS A SEPARATE STORY. I WILL HOPEFULLY BE STARTING TO POST THE SEQUEL:-TENTATIVELY TITLED HARRY POTTER AND SALAZAR'S LEGACY—IN THE NEXT TWO TO THREE WEEKS. SO, ADD ME TO YOUR AUTHOR ALERTS OR WHATEVER WILL TELL YOU WHEN THAT IS STARTING TO BE POSTED.**

 **AS ALWAYS,REVIEW,REVIEW AND REVIEW**


	12. Chapter 9

**AN: JKR OWNS EVERYTHING.**

 **WHOO! 10K VIEWS! HAVE SOME CHOCOLATE, AND THE MIND ALTERING SUBSTANCE OF YOUR CHOICE. YOU GUYS ROCK!**

 **PLEASE READ, AND SEND ME YOUR THOUGHTS. I'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!**

 **ENJOY**

Chapter Nine—Back to Hogwarts

Returning to Hogwarts after the Christmas break was a strange experience for Harry. He had changed so much in just two weeks. He hadn't heard the voices in his mind reminding him of Joseph or Mr. Roberts since he had spoken to Draco. He felt much more confident and happy with himself. Of course, just having a break that he used to relax and have fun would have done something like that, but he had spoken about something that had been bothering him for years. He still was shocked with himself about how much trust he had placed in Draco and Lucius, and that he was actually happy about it.

Harry had entertained Draco and himself on the train ride back by using his new invisibility cloak to prank their other friends. It was really hard not to laugh at Goyle's expression when something he couldn't see pulled his Cauldron Cake out of his hands. Eventually, they got tired of it though and revealed themselves. Harry told everyone how he had gotten it by owl shortly after Christmas, with a note saying it had been his fathers. While everyone was oohing and aahing over it, Theo made what would prove to be an unfortunate comment. Unfortunate at least, that he had been stupid enough to say it while Daphne, Tracey, and Pansy were in the compartment.

"So Harry, you're gonna sneak into the girls' showers?" He had said leering.

The girls in the compartment immediately broke into an uproar while the boys all laughed. After Tracey had thrown her inkwell at Theo, she had made Harry swear never to use the cloak like that. Harry swore, of course, but he was a bit upset at Theo. The thought had never even crossed his mind, and now Tracey was looking at him quite threateningly.

* * *

Getting back into the swing of lessons and his timetable took Harry a bit more time than he had been expecting. By the end of the first week back he was totally exhausted, but by the middle of the second week, he was back into his stride.

He wasn't spending much time in the library. Lucius had kindly let him borrow the book he had been so interested in, with the admonishment not to be caught with it, and so he spent a lot of time in his room, with his curtains around his bed closed, reading it.

He was nearly finished it when he was struck by a sudden realization.

' _I can use the invisibility cloak to read books in the restricted section! Maybe I can't borrow them, I mean who knows what spells are on them, but I can at least read them!'_

It was the third week of term when Granger came up to him in the library. Harry was sitting at a desk, working on a transfiguration essay when he heard her say his name softly.

He looked up to see the bushy-haired girl standing in front of him, shifting her weight from foot to foot nervously.

' _Been wondering when this would come. Not surprised the ginger bastard isn't with her, too much of a coward. So much for the house of the brave'_

"Can I help you?" He asked, voice icy.

"Um, Harry, I wanted to uh, apologize. What Ron said was wrong, and"

"So where is he? Why are you apologizing for what he did?"

"He wants to, but he's too embarrassed to-"

' _More like he doesn't think he was wrong'_

"Really? That's not very brave of him, is it? I thought that Gryffindor's had to be brave"

"He really feels bad"

"Thank you, Granger. You can bugger off now"

"I-What?" She asked, scandalized look on her face and confusion in her voice.

"I said, you can bugger off now. You may be bright, but you must also be hard of hearing"

"What's your problem? I'm trying to set things right, and I understand that-" Her voice rising a little. Harry winced, Madam Pince would come running at that.

"You understand nothing," He said, voice just above a hiss. "You think you know everything Granger, but you know nothing. You want to learn something? Here, understand this. I'm tired, Granger. I'm tired of half the world staring at me in awe because I didn't die properly. I'm tired of people like your tosser friend staring at me in fear because guess what? I didn't die properly. I'm tired of people craning to see this" He said, pushing away a curl of hair to let his scar be seen clearly, "And I'm tired of bossy know it all's like you who want the whole world to fit neatly in their expectations"

He looked at her. She had taken a step back during his tirade and was standing there with her hand to her mouth, eyes shimmering with tears.

"Now," he said, taking a breath "Bugger off. I have homework to do"

He watched her flee, feeling quite satisfied with himself.

* * *

Over the next few weeks back, Harry fell into a routine with his library time. He would spend some time doing school work and reading, and would then use his invisibility cloak to sneak into the restricted section. His spell arsenal was definitely growing, unfortunately, he couldn't cast most of the spells he tried. Of course, he wasn't trying out the Blood-Boiling or Brain-Melting curses that he had found, but more-innocent spells. There was a spell that would unlock doors even locked against Alohamora, and he couldn't get that to work. Admittedly, he didn't have a door to practice against, but still, it didn't _feel_ like it was working.

The tickling and jelly legs jinxes worked fine though. Draco had even agreed to practice these spells and a few others they had found, although no-one had told them that petrificus totalus actually hurt.

When they told Professor Snape that they wanted to practice jinxes, he let them use one of the empty classrooms near their common-room and even conjured a few dummies for them to practice spells on. Harry was determined to be able to cast a cutting curse by the end of the year. At the moment, his diffindo would make a mark, but wouldn't cut properly. He and Draco were also quite interested in getting the Protego to work for them. It was meant to produce an invisible shield, but they couldn't get it to work.

"I'm sure for these type of things we just need more time" Draco had said one day.

"You're probably right, but I don't want to wait! I just want to be able to do them already" Harry had replied, to which Draco had laughed.

They had found tonnes of spells that they would love to learn, but that they simply needed to leave till later to be able to do properly.

The snow, which came pretty often, really gave the castle a great, fairy-tale feel. It also gave rise to a bunch of impromptu snowball fights, which were particularly interesting once magic got involved. Harry had found a spell in some library book, to shoot objects around, and used it to great effect in the Slytherin-Gryffindor snowball fight. He was particularly satisfied when he hit the ginger bastard hard enough in the face that he was knocked off his feet.

* * *

One day in mid-February, Harry had been surprised to receive a letter. The last letter he had gotten had been from Hagrid, attempting to apologize. He had taken great pleasure in tearing it into pieces and trying to set it on fire. He had managed to set it on fire, but he had also almost set the table on fire as well, causing one of the prefects to rush over, put it out, and take five points from Slytherin. This letter though, this looked much smarter than anything the oaf had sent. The owl looked far sleeker, and the letter had an embossed coat of arms on it. The owl had landed in front of Harry and extended its leg. As Harry was untying the letter, Draco told him "Hey, that's Artemis. She's Father's owl. I wonder what he's writing you about"

"Probably what we spoke about over Christmas. I hope it's good news" He said, not wanting to give too much information to the rest of the table who's interest had been piqued by Draco's words.

He gave the owl a nibble of his bacon, and it flew off. He tucked the letter safely into his robes-He wouldn't have a chance to read it until after Defence, then he would find somewhere private, away from everyone else for it.

Defence that day was quite interesting, but Harry found he couldn't concentrate on what Professor Quirrell was saying, even though he wanted to learn more about the effects of multiple spells hitting the same target.

After class, he ran off before anyone could try to start a conversation. He already had to deal with Pansy wanting to know all about what Lucius had sent him, and even though they hadn't said anything, Theo and Blaise had been listening in to that conversation very carefully.

He had to walk very quietly from the first empty classroom he had tried. Peeves was in there, drawing rude pictures on the blackboard and singing. Harry had enough run-ins with the poltergeist to know that if noticed, he would be pelted with bits of chalk. He found another empty classroom a bit further away and settled in to read.

" _Harry, I hope this letter finds you well._

 _I will not go too much into details right now, but as I said over Yule: Formally adopting you at this juncture will prove to be the next thing to impossible. Besides the formidable legal hoops I would have to jump through, Narcissa and I would be required to receive the permission of the head of your orphanage, your head of house, and your headmaster. The orphanage matron and Severus would undoubtedly not prove problematic, but Albus Dumbledore most definitely would.  
_

 _Not only is he my political enemy, but he is one of those who remain distrustful of me after the last war. I know Draco and you have discussed my position during those terrible days, and that Draco has told you of the rumors my enemies spread of me. Albus Dumbledore is one of the lead causes of those whispers. There are other obstacles, but few as difficult to cross as that._

 _Once you have sat you OWL's at the end of your fifth year, their permission will no longer be required. I know that must seem a lifetime away, but the time will pass quickly. I do have a piece of good news for you. As I mentioned, informal adoption seems to be proving a possible avenue to pursue. I will discuss this all in greater detail with you over Easter break. I presume you will accept our invitation once again?_

 _Ensure that my book is cared for. I will permit you to take another after Easter if it is in as good condition. If you require assistance with understanding it, speak to your head of house. I trust Severus, and you should as well._

 _Lucius II, Head of House Malfoy"_

Well. That was that. The Malfoy's wouldn't be adopting him any time soon. The informal adoption thing though, that could be good. From what Lucius had said, it basically meant that he would stay with the Malfoy's over the summers. That would be cool. He glanced over the bit about the book again and snorted. Clearly, Lucius had never seen how reverently Harry treated books. The idea of asking Professor Snape for help seemed a good one, hadn't the man said if Harry wanted to discuss Magical Theory with him he should come back after Christmas? Well, it was nearly March! That's definitely after Christmas enough.

* * *

"So Mr. Potter, what do you want to ask?" Professor Snape asked

"Well sir, I borrowed this book from Mr. Malfoy" he answered, handing the book in question to his professor, "And I just had a few questions about some of the things it says. Mr. Malfoy said I should ask you if I have any questions"

Professor Snape had opened the book to a random page, and Harry noticed the way his long fingers lovingly stroked the binding.

"Yes? And I hope you have been careful about who has seen you with this book"

"Of course sir, only Draco knows I have it here. Well, it says how the Dark Arts are the 'true magic', and how they are always more powerful than other spells. I was wondering if that was actually the case? And if so, even though they're dangerous, why don't we use them?"

Professor Snape shut the book with a thud and thought for a moment before answering.

"They may be referred to as the true magic, but that is more hyperbole than anything else. With regards to power, you are both correct and incorrect" Snape seemed to be thinking deeply now, his eyes tightly closed "You see, the Dark Arts will provide a far more powerful cutting spell then Diffindo. However, when it comes to an innocuous spell such as Wingardiam Leviosa, the Dark Arts will not help. They are called Dark for a reason Potter. When it comes to causing pain and injury, the Dark Arts are one's closest friends and advisors. When it comes to day to day tasks, not so much"

"Professor Quirrell said that the Dark Arts are powered by negative emotions," Harry said, leading towards a question he wanted to ask

"He is correct, at first at least"

"Sir? What do you mean, at first?" Harry asked, confused.

"Do you remember what you had to do to turn a matchstick into a needle, Potter?"

A bit thrown, Harry stumbled a little "Mutatium? And have in mind how we wanted it to look?"

"And what else?"

"Uh, desire for it to change?"

"Exactly", waving his wand, Snape made a matchstick appear, "Now change this into a needle, as quickly as you can"

"Mutatium," Harry said, giving his wand a wave. Instantly, the match became a needle.

"Tell me, did you have to have as strong a desire for the match to change now as the first few times you did the spell?" Snape asked

"No, sir," Harry said, beginning to understand.

"So too with the Dark Arts. At first, they require conscious 'negative emotions'" Harry fancied he could hear Professor Snape putting quotes around those words "But after practice and much use, they no longer require the caster to consciously feel and think those things"

"Sir? Could you explain that a bit more please?" Harry felt like he was beginning to understand, but not in a way he could put into words yet.

"When first you cast Mutatium, you had to think of multiple things: How you wanted the needle to look, how you wanted the match to change, How you wanted the spell to take magic from you and cause an action to occur. By now, many, if not all, of these thoughts happen on a subconscious level. They still occur, but you are not aware of them"

"Ah," Harry said, nodding, a bright light going off in his head.

"This is why the most intelligent witches and wizards are capable of the best magic. Pure magical power usually does not come into it"

"What do you mean sir? I thought"

"You thought wrong. Ninety percent of witches and wizards have roughly the same amount of magical power. There are exceptions, like Dumbledore and the Dark Lord, who have much more power than the rest of us. There are also squibs, who have much less power than the rest of us. So then, what makes one wizard more capable than another? It is their intelligence, their ability to think of so many different things at a time and translate that from thoughts into reality, while only using subconscious processes to do so."

"So-"

"So, you and Draco will not be able to cast something as complex as the Protego until you have mastered your ability to think while casting. The reason that spell is taught in later years is not due to the power required to cast it, but rather the state of mind required"

"You've seen us practicing? Sir?"

"You think I would allow such promising students as yourselves to cast who-know-what without checking in on you? One day you too will be capable of Disillusionment Charms"

"I have an invisibility cloak for that sir," Harry said cheekily.

' _He thinks I show promise! That's awesome!'_

"And if I were to take it?" Snape said, giving Harry a sneer, "Reliance on enchanted objects will cripple you"

"Returning to the subject at hand, one who is proficient with the use of the Dark Arts will be able to cast them without consciously focusing on your 'negative emotions', but he will be feeling them subconsciously. Therein lies the danger of the Dark Arts, one who uses them too much will be in an almost constant state of feeling subconscious rage, hate, and the like. This is why the most successful Wizards and Witches are Occlumens"

"What is an Occlumens, sir?"

"Occlumency is a mental art. It is far, far beyond your current level Potter, so you can shut those wise ideas down immediately"

Harry blushed a bit, sometimes it was really like Snape could read his mind.

"In order to master Occlumency, one will master their emotions and mind first. This is obviously something that most wizards are unable to do, however, those who can… Well, it gives them access to abilities that most wizards will not be able to use safely"

"So someone who knows Occlumency can use the Dark Arts, no problem?"

"Not quite. They still will need to be almost constantly monitoring their emotions, watching for changes and controlling those changes"

' _This whole conversation is very similar to what Lucius was saying on Yule night'_

"Sir? Do you think I'll ever be able to do-Occlumency?"

Snape gave Harry a long, searching look.

"I would not be surprised. You are obviously very eager to learn, and the growth in your magical control, while not unheard of, is still impressive. I believe once you start using non-verbal spells, your control will improve exponentially. I would not be surprised if by your fifth year you would be capable of almost any spell you decide to cast, and capable of casting some of them non-verbally. After that, if you still desire it, you would probably be capable of learning Occlumency"

Harry's heart soared. No-one had ever spoken to him this way before, with _belief_ in him, belief that he could be great.

"Of course, that will only be possible if you continue to expend great efforts and put hard work into yourself. If you do so, you will make great achievements"

"Thank you, sir!"

"Now, off with you. I still have to mark these Hufflepuff's homework."

Harry walked off to the common room with a spring in his step. That conversation had really given him a lot to think about it. And more importantly, it had left him with a really good feeling.

' _Professor Snape thinks I can make great achievements. He said so himself!'_

The good feeling carried through Harry's whole next week, and then slowly dissipated, as such feelings do. He still pushed himself even more in his classes, and his grades showed it. By the next month, he was in the top in his class, and in the top five of his whole year. This had the unfortunate downside of his friends complaining that he was spending too much time in the library and doing schoolwork and that he really should spend more time with them. He started making a point of spending no more than an hour a day in the library, and they calmed down a bit.

* * *

He made plans with Draco to go to the Malfoy's for Easter break, as Lucius had suggested. He was really looking forward to spending the time at Draco, and all his friends had made plans to spend a day together.

"At least the weather's better now, so none of you can complain when I get you to swim" Theo had said, getting everyone to laugh.

"Why do we always meet at Draco's house?" Blaise commented.

"Well, Blaise" Draco drawled, "It's probably because I have the best house out of all of us". There really wasn't much to say to that. From what Harry had gathered, even though some of his other friends were wealthy, it was nothing quite like the Malfoys.

It happened the week before Easter break.

Harry was walking towards the Transfiguration classroom from the library. He was in a pretty deserted stretch of corridor when a jet of red light hit him from behind, knocking him unconscious almost instantly. Harry never heard or saw anything amiss, and was unconscious by the time his attacker had begun siphoning blood from the crook of his elbow.

 **WELL, THAT WAS UNEXPECTED. SORRY FOR THE CLIFFY, BUT I'LL HAVE A NEW CHAPTER OUT NEXT WEEK.**

 **AS ALWAYS, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW.**

 **I HAVE DECIDED THAT THE SEQUEL WILL BE NAMED : HARRY POTTER AND SALAZAR'S LEGACY. DEPENDING ON HOW SOME THINGS GO, I'LL FINISH THIS ONE AND START POSTING IT IN TWO WEEKS OR SO.**


	13. Chapter 10

**AN: YOU KNOW THE DRILL. I OWN NOTHING**

 **PLEASE LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS. YOUR REVIEWS AND PM'S ARE AMBROSIA FOR ME**

 **ENJOY**

Chapter Ten—The Hospital Wing, and Easter

Harry came to slowly, eyes blinking against the brightness that flooded his vision. He could only see blurry shadows and a lot of white.

' _Where am I? What happened? I was going to Transfiguration, and then?'_

He heard some bustling around him, and a voice speaking.

"He's awake, let me do my checks headmaster"

' _Who is that? Her voice is familiar'_

"Of course Poppy" came a man's voice, "Severus and I will wait"

' _Poppy? Severus?'_

And then it came to him, as his memories flooded back.

' _I must be in the Hospital Wing, and Dumbledore and Professor Snape are here also. What happened?'_

Harry tried to speak, to ask that very question, but it came out in a bit of a croak. His throat felt like someone had packed it full of sand.

"Don't try to talk yet, you need something to drink first" Madam Pomfrey said, "Here, let me put your glasses on, then you can sit up a bit and have something to drink"

His vision cleared as his glasses comfortable weight settled on the bridge of his nose. He could see Madam Pomfrey looking over him, while Dumbledore and Professor Snape looked on from the other side of the room.

"Try sitting up there, tell me if you feel any pain"

Harry pushed himself up so he was sitting, and shook his head at the nurses questioning look. She handed him a glass of water, telling him "small sips now", and he drank it, his throat feeling better immediately.

"Harry dear, are you up to answering some questions from the Headmaster and Professor Snape?"

"I think so," he said, giving a small cough.

' _What the hell happened to me? Why am I here?'_

Dumbledore and Snape moved forwards, till they were standing right next to Harry. Dumbledore was the first to speak.

"Harry, my boy. I'm so sorry that you have been hurt"

' _Now you're sorry I'm hurt! Where were you the rest of my life?'_

"Thank you, sir "

Dumbledore winced slightly at the cool tone of voice. Snape just watched this, impassively.

"Sir?" Harry said, looking at Snape, "What happened to me?"

"You were stunned. Draco and Daphne went looking for you when you didn't appear in Transfiguration. They found you after searching for a while. We're hoping you may shed some light on what happened" Snape said, his voice tight and controlled.

"I'm not sure, sir. I was on the way to Transfiguration from the library, and then I just woke up here"

"You didn't hear anything? An incantation, even footsteps? Anything you can tell us?" Snape asked.

Harry screwed up his face in concentration, thinking hard.

"Not that I can remember sir"

"Harry," Dumbledore said, "We wish to help you. Rest assured, whoever is responsible for this will be punished severely"

"Expelled," Snape said

Dumbledore ignored the addition and continued. "Do you know of anyone, student or teacher, who would wish you harm?"

' _You might not wish me harm, but I'm not sure you wish me well either'_

"No, sir. The only one I can think of is Weasley. Ron Weasley. But I don't think-"

"No first year would be capable of this" Snape cut in, looking directly at Dumbledore. "A talented enough third year perhaps"

"All avenues will be pursued, Severus," Dumbledore said quietly, "But I think, in this you are wrong"

"If I am not, they will both be expelled" Snape stated, with a quiet finality.

Dumbledore turned back to Harry.

"Whoever attacked you chose their location well. There are no portraits on that corridor to perhaps give us information. Tell me Harry, is corridor your usual way of getting to Transfiguration?"

"Not really. I had to go to the library before class, and that's why I was going there. Usually, I don't"

"Well," Dumbledore said, with a slightly relieved look on his face, "That gives us something. Whoever it was would have had to be following you"

' _Doesn't seem like it's that big a help'_

"Harry, I wish to speak with you after the Easter break," Dumbledore said, "You will be spending it with the Malfoys?"

"Yes"

"Excellent. First Sunday after the break, 2 P.M. My office. The password will be Pepper Imps"

With that, Dumbledore left the Hospital wing, giving a cheery farewell to Madam Pomfrey. Snape was still standing by Harry's bed, looking at Dumbledore's departing figure with an odd expression on his face.

"Sir?" Harry said tentatively, "It sounds like you suspect someone?"

Snape looked back at Harry and just looked at him for a few moments before answering.

"A few days ago, Ronald Weasley was jinxed multiple times over the course of a few hours. Nothing major, but enough to cause anger. I believe you may know who is behind that"

' _Goddamnit Draco. I told you and Theo to just leave the bastard alone.'_

After Draco had told Theo how much Ron had pissed Harry off, the two had decided to ambush him, and leave him wobbling around and being tickled. Harry had tried to talk them out of it, saying he just wanted nothing to do with the ginger anymore, but Theo had just smirked and said "You won't be doing anything. Anyways, Slytherins look out for each other"

Harry just looked back at Professor Snape with an expressionless mask on. The man sighed and carried on.

"Weasley has two brothers in the third year, Fred, and George. You know them?"

Harry nodded, of course, he knew the Weasley twins. The two biggest troublemakers in the school, everyone knew them. They were possibly the only students who could match Peeves for pranks.

"It is possible, but not too likely that they were taking revenge on you for what had happened to their younger brother"

' _Draco I'm going to kill you'_

"The more I think of that though" Snape continued "The less it makes sense. This is not like them. They would be more likely to vanish your clothing or do something embarrassing and highly amusing to them. This attack does not fall into their modus operandi"

"So who could it have been sir?"

"Who knows?" Snape said, faraway look in his eyes.

Madam Pomfrey said that Harry would have to spend the night in the Hospital Wing. He hated being in there, she treated him like he was an infant. It was nice at first, not having to do anything, but after a few hours he was feeling restless, and he couldn't have another argument with the strict nurse over whether or not he was too weak to at least walk around the room. He didn't even have any books with him to serve as a distraction. Luckily, his friends paid him a visit that evening. Even luckier, they brought him one of his library books, so at least he would have something to do. Madam Pomfrey had told him that she would only let him out the next day at lunchtime.

Harry took great pleasure in guilt-tripping Draco and Theo about the possible outcome of their attack on Weasley. He neglected to tell them until the very end of their visit what Snape had said about how unlikely it was that it had actually been the Weasley twins who attacked him. When he did tell them though, Theo visibly sagged with relief, while Draco hit Harry with a pillow.

* * *

Harry finally got the all clear to leave the Hospital Wing just in time to make it down to the Great Hall for lunch. Everyone was getting excited about the Quidditch match the following day. It was going to be Hufflepuff-Gryffindor, and whoever won this match would be facing Slytherin in the finals after Easter break.

"There's no chance Hufflepuff will win, Draco. Not a chance"

"I'm telling you, Blaise, you'll see. Gryffindor has a better team, but Hufflepuff has a better Seeker. Diggory will get the Snitch for sure. The only question is if Gryffindor will score enough to win anyway"

"Isn't that quite unlikely?" Tracey asked. She really didn't care much for Quidditch, but would still support the Slytherin team with everyone else.

"Generally," Harry said. He had been doing a lot of reading and talking about Quidditch, and felt he had a good idea of the game, "But there isn't usually such a disparity between the teams. If the seekers were taken out of it, Gryffindor would absolutely clobber the Hufflepuffs".

In the end, both Blaise and Draco were proven right, when Gryffindor won by ten points after Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff Seeker caught the snitch. Even though most of the relatively short match had just been Gryffindor scoring goal after goal, it had still been exhilarating. Harry was getting excited as the time drew near to his second year, and with it, the chance for him to try out for the Slytherin team. Draco was very confident that both him and Harry would get onto the team when they tried out, but Harry still felt nervous at the thought. What if he just wasn't good enough? It was enough to make him want to not try out, just in case. Either way, he had told Draco he would try next year, so he would have to do it.

* * *

"What are those things?" Harry asked, pointing to the leathery horses that were pulling their carriages to the train.

"Harry, what are you talking about?" Draco asked him.

"You know, those horses pulling the carriages. They don't look at all like normal horses. Well, except for the legs and tail I guess"

Now everyone was looking at him strangely, although Theo's face had a very odd expression on it.

"Harry, there isn't anything pulling the carriage," Draco said a bit worriedly.

Harry looked at Draco's face, trying to find the joke. He looked back at the horse, saw its tail whip at a fly, and then looked back at everyone else in the carriage.

"You guys are joking, right? Seriously?"

"Harry," Daphne said gently, "There's nothing pulling the carriages, except magic"

"But-"

"He's right," Theo said, voice lower than his usual self-confident tones.

"What?" Daphne said, staring at Theo

' _Well, at least everyone's looking at him like he's the crazy one'_

"They're Thestrals. My father warned me about them" Theo said.

"Thestral," Harry said, the name tickling something in his memory.

"Yeah. You can only see Thestrals if you saw someone die" Theo said, making everyone look a little uncomfortable, "Who did you see die?"

"Duh, his parents" Pansy said petulantly.

"No. You have to be old enough to understand what happened. Dad wasn't sure if I would be able to see them and I was eight when my mother died. Harry would have been too young when his parents died."

Draco gave Harry a look.

' _oh fuck it'_

"A kid at the orphanage died. I watched him fall down the stairs" Harry said lightly.

Pansy gasped, "That must have been horrible"

"Not really," Harry said. They must have picked something up from his tone, because the conversation shifted very quickly, although Daphne kept giving him furtive glances, and Draco had a little blush creeping up his neck.

* * *

As usual, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy were waiting for the boys at the train station. They Apparated to Malfoy Manor, and Harry found that this time the apparition wasn't nearly as bad as his first time had been. Dobby arrived to take their trunks, and Harry and Draco went to unpack. Draco had promised to show Harry a part of the grounds they hadn't been to on the last trip. Apparently, before the Malfoys 'acquired' this bit of land, it had been a muggle golf course. It really was a breathtaking view. A large grassy plain stretched before them, with small foresty areas in it, and flowers and trees dotting the landscape. There were deer meandering in it, and Draco said there were a few unicorns that lived in the little forest.

"Not that many of course, it's not that large. But father says there are enough of them, that we could make a living on nothing else but their hair"

They ran through the long grass, rolling and playing in it. It wasn't too long before they were tired, and started the trek back to the Manor.

"What do those Thestrals look like actually? I've only seen drawings of them"

"Like a horse crossed with a dragon. A bit creepy actually. They have these long wings that were curled up against their bodies"

"Worth watching a muggle die to be able to see them?" Draco asked casually, half question half statement.

"I guess. It still isn't any fun seeing a person die. They just-stop being a person and become a lifeless thing"

"I'm telling you, Harry, you can't think of muggles as if they're people"

"But they are! They can't do magic, and maybe they're more stupid than us, but they're still people"

Draco shook his head quite violently, blonde hair flying around.

"Harry-"

"C'mon Draco, I'm too tired to argue about this right now," Harry said, not really lying. He was feeling quite exhausted.

Dinner was amazing, as Harry had come to expect from the Malfoys. As Harry and Draco were heading to bed, Lucius pulled Harry over for a moment.

"Harry, tomorrow I'd like to talk to you. Perhaps after breakfast?"

Harry failed to hide a yawn and nodded while saying "That should be good sir. Thank you"

Lucius gave Harry an indulgent smile. "Not at all Harry"

* * *

"So Harry, as I said in my letter to you, the prospect of adoption does not look very likely"

Harry nodded. They were sitting in Lucius' study, Harry felt he was being swallowed by the armchair he was in. He didn't want to shift around too much though. He still had a voice in his head screaming about showing weakness, and while he ignored it most of the time, he had to give it something.

"The problem is, the current adoption laws are extremely archaic and outdated. There is a custom, which is almost law by now, to name a godparent for a child. This way, if the parents are incapacitated, the godparent will raise the child. Your godparent causes some rather large problems for us"

' _I have a godparent?'_

"Who is my godparent?" Harry said, some anger leaking into his voice.

"A wizard by the name of Sirius Black. He was your father's best friend"

Lucius stopped and looked hard at Harry.

Internally, Harry was shaking.

' _What the hell? Where has he been?'_

"The problem Harry is that Sirius Black is serving a life sentence in Azkaban. No hope of parole"

' _What?'_ Harry thought, his bubble of indignation leaking into his voice.

Lucius must have noticed Harry's shocked look because he was quick to continue.

"He killed thirteen muggles and a wizard. The night your parents were killed in fact. And Harry, this is going to be very difficult for you to hear"

Lucius took a deep breath, as Harry was wondering what else would be coming.

"Sirius Black was the one who betrayed your' parents location to the Dark Lord"

Harry's body began shaking a bit.

' _It's his fault. His fault the Dark Lord killed my parents. His fault I grew up in a nightmare. His fault. It's all this Sirius Black's fault'_

Harry was speechless. What could he say to that? How was he meant to respond to a bombshell like that?

"Harry?" Lucius said kindly, softly, "Would you rather continue this conversation later?"

Harry shook his head as if to cast the thoughts of his parent's murder away.

"No, sir. If it's ok, I'd like to discuss this now, and sort through my thoughts later"

"Very well," Lucius said approvingly, "Now, obviously Sirius is unable to be your godparent. However, since legally he is the one who _should_ be looking after you, it becomes very difficult for someone else to take custody of you"

"But, what do they expect me to do? What happens to other kids in this type of situation?"

"It is an extremely rare situation to be in. In the wizarding world, if parents and godparent are unable to take in the child in question, he or she will usually be adopted by family—Close family. Aunts and Uncles and the like"

' _Well, that sure as hell won't happen with me'_ Harry thought, still reeling from the what he had just learned. He was actually feeling slightly hysterical.

' _Don't show it! No weakness!'_

"As such, your case, while not unprecedented or unheard of, is very, very uncommon. To remove custody from the Parent's chosen, and to hand it over to another would require a meeting of some of the Wizengamot. Not the whole court, but some of them"

"That sounds do-able though?" Harry said, a bit confused.

"That alone would be. However, we would also need to show why your current living situation is unsatisfactory. Of course, no-one would think that a muggle" Lucius said that word with such bite, Harry was almost surprised to see the man wasn't foaming at the lips, "orphanage is a fitting place for a young wizard, particularly not you. That too would be manageable, even without us being forced to go into details of what you have experienced in that place"

"So what is the actual problem, sir?"

"The problem, Harry, comes in with your headmaster. Being that you are an orphan, raised in the muggle world, your headmaster and by extension, head of house, are considered to be your Magical guardians. Now, Albus Dumbledore may be willing to allow you to be adopted by a wizarding family, but there is next to no chance he will allow you to be adopted by his political enemy"

"He wants to speak to me after Easter", Harry blurted out.

Lucius sat in deep thought for a few minutes before speaking.

"He will very possibly warn you about me. He believes me to be a puppet-master, making the ministry dance on my strings. I wish my connections were that good" Lucius said with a small laugh.

"You said, informal adoption would be possible?" Harry asked, wanting to stay on point. The information he had been told about his godfather was rattling about his head, and despite his brave front he just wanted to get out of the study already.

"Yes. It should be no problem. What it would practically mean, is that you would stay here over the summer, and breaks as you desire. Nothing would be legally changed, at all. Legally, Narcissa and I would have no say with regards to you, and anything requiring your guardian's approval would still have to go through the orphanage matron or Dumbledore. Nevertheless, you would not be living at that place, and I believe that should be enough, for the moment at least"

"I think it will be sir. Getting away from the orphanage is all I want right now"

"Then that is the course we shall take. We must be careful, Albus Dumbledore has the legal power to forbid you from coming. Additionally, I believe a Confundus charm may be in order. We wouldn't want the Matron wondering why you aren't there, would we?"

"No, sir," Harry said. His exuberant feelings rising, even on top of his melancholy mood.

By the end of the week, Harry felt totally rested. The break had been really good. It had taken him until the end of the day after his chat with Lucius to regain his equilibrium, but Draco had helped. They had gone flying, and after that Harry told Draco the whole story. How his dad's best friend, and his own godfather, had been the one to betray his parents to the Dark Lord. Draco had been suitably shocked. He knew the name, Sirius Black, of course. He was an infamous killer. A whole street of muggles had been blown up in his fight with another wizard, named Peter Pettigrew.

"We're related to him actually," Draco said.

"Pettigrew?"

"No, Black. My mother was a Black. Sirius is her cousin. Although Mother's sister and her husband are in Azkaban"

"Really? Why?"

"Auntie Bella was the Dark Lord's best servant," Draco said, with a bit of pride in his voice. Harry didn't notice that though, he was too focused on the words themselves.

"Really? That's crazy! What did she do?"

And so, the rest of the day was spent with Draco regaling Harry with tales of his aunt and uncle's actions during the war. Harry listened with horror, but a small part of him was jealous.

' _That's power. Being able to do whatever you want. That's real power'_

* * *

The last two days of the break gave Harry a lot of alone time. Draco had completely forgotten about the homework they had been assigned until a chance comment by his mother had reminded him. He had become quite frantic, leaving Harry glad he had done most of it before the break. Harry used a lot of this time in the library and was reading an old philosophy tome and muttering to himself when Lucius walked in without his noticing.

"That's quite gross" He was saying.

"What is?" Harry jerked at the sudden voice, almost throwing the book. He saw Lucius standing there, and relaxed, his heart still racing.

"The stuff this book is talking about sir. About being selfish" He said, showing the book to the man.

"What's gross about it?" Lucius asked, settling into an armchair.

"It's just—It isn't good to be selfish, is it?" He asked, suddenly feeling quite uncertain.

"Selfishness" Lucius drawled, "Is the most honest of human attributes. No-one else, outside of close friends and family, will truly be thinking of what will be best for you. It is up to you to look out for yourself"

"But the way this book is talking, you can do anything in your own interest!"

"And so?" Lucius asked, arching one eyebrow.

"What about-" Harry said, feeling a bit flustered, "What about the law?"

"Ah, the law. I believe that book actually discusses it"

"Oh. I haven't read that much of it"

"I would be most pleased if you would take that book with when you return to Hogwarts for the next term. You should read it, Harry"

"I will sir. Thank you"

"I believe you will find it most illuminating" Lucius continued as if Harry hadn't spoken. "Just ensure that you think what it says through. The ideas contained in there are brilliant, but require much thought to comprehend fully. In fact, that book is practically the Malfoy family philosophy. We can discuss it over the summer"

"Oh Draco, you're almost finished your first year at Hogwarts" Mrs. Malfoy was saying on their last day of break. "I can't believe you've gotten so big!"

Harry smiled at Draco's discomfort. The blonde boy frankly hated it when his mother displayed affection in front of other people.

"You'll be good, won't you boys?"

"Yes ma'am" Harry responded, while Draco just nodded.

"Wonderful. Harry, we're so looking forward to having you over the summer" She said, giving Harry a warm smile.

"Come on boys, we must get going" Lucius called from the entrance hall. They walked until they were outside the gate, and Lucius and Narcissa held out their hands. Harry took one last look at the Manor where he would be spending the summer and gave a brilliant grin.

 **AS ALWAYS, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW.**


	14. Interlude III

**AN: JKR AND WARNER BRO'S OWN HARRY POTTER**

 **PLEASE READ AND GIVE ME YOUR CRITICISM. LET ME KNOW WHAT Y'ALL THINK!  
**

 **ENJOY**

Interlude III-Advice for Albus

"What do I do, Severus?"

Severus Snape looked at the man asking the question. His boss, in fact. The old wizard's face was more lined than usual, and the usual twinkle was missing from his eyes.

"About what exactly?" He asked although he had a good idea where this was going. 

"Harry Potter," Albus said, looking Severus in the eyes. "What do I do, Severus?" 

"I have no idea. Frankly, I see very little chance of the boy coming to trust or love you"

' _And you don't deserve it. I betrayed my master for you, for a woman, and you mistreat her child. You don't deserve my trust, let alone his'_

"I am resigned to that. I made foolish choices, and now I will have to reap the rewards"

"So what do you want? I have a potion on the boil"

"Severus, what do you think of the boy's friend group?"

' _So that is where we are headed'_

"They may not push him intellectually, but they seem good enough friends. Why?"

Albus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Harry's closest friends are all the children of Death Eaters or Death Eater sympathizers. I will not judge the children for their parents' actions, but what worldview is Harry picking up? Harry is already in a prime position to hate muggles, he may already be being manipulated by Lucius. What can I do?" 

' _The boy is lost to you Albus, and you are only realizing this now. And it's your own damn fault'  
_

"There is nothing you can do, Albus. If you try to separate Harry from his friends, you will simply make his life worse than you already have"

"I know Severus," Albus said, voice rising. "I know!" 

"And what," Snape said icily, "Do you wish from me in this? I will not turn the boy against the first friends he has ever had" 

"You know him better than I Severus. You deal with him far more, and he likes you far more. I just want to stop him from heading down the same dark path so many others have trod. The path you went down"

"There is no Dark Lord to snatch him up and turn the boy to his service"

"It is far more than that! I don't want him to grow up wallowing in rage and hatred and self-pity. I don't want to see him adopting the Malfoy way of thinking, of being above the law. I don't want to see that from Harry. And Severus, you know that Voldemort is not completely gone. If we are not vigilant, he may return"

"I prefer to deal with that which is certain. The Dark Lord's return is not. And Albus, the best thing for Harry right now is for him to be loved and cared for. You will only push him further away from you if you try to police his friends"

Dumbledore put his head into his hand for a few moments.

"Albus, you will not win him back to you any time soon. He sees you as having caused all that he suffered, and he is right. What manipulations can Lucius be doing anyway?"

"Severus, you are a brilliant wizard, but you are no politician. You don't see the power Harry would have if he one day takes his seat in the Wizengamot. I guarantee you, any motion he suggests will pass, simply on the power of his name. Wizarding Britain loves him. Now Severus, imagine Lucius Malfoy having that level of power? Lucius will try to put Harry in a position, where Harry listens to and respects his opinion more than any other"

' _That would be formidable. And very like Lucius'_

"And what will you do, Albus? Bar him from Malfoy Manor? You will achieve nothing"

"I know. I will open a line of communication with the boy. Hopefully, I will be able to show him that I do care"

"He will see your previous actions as speaking against that"

"What should I do Severus? Watch Harry become a political pawn? Watch him sink into darkness? No, I will show him, love. It will take time, but eventually, he will come round" 

' _I doubt he will. But you will not listen to me. You just want everything to be good and happy, even when it simply won't be.'_

"I hope you are right, Albus. I hope you are"

"Anything to report on Quirrell?"

' _I almost forgot. Even after the Dark Lord is gone, I must remain your spy'_

"No. Except his stammering about wanting to take another Sabbatical, nothing"

"Well, we shall speak again Severus"

' _Only when you next need me'_

"Of course"

 **AS ALWAYS, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW.**

 **THERE WILL BE ANOTHER TWO CHAPTERS, AN EPILOGUE, AND THEN THE NEXT STORY WILL BEGIN. POSSIBLY MAY EVEN FINISH THIS YEAR OVER THE COURSE OF THIS WEEK, BUT NO PROMISES.**


	15. Chapter 11

**AN: YOU KNOW THE DRILL, IT ALL BELONGS TO ROWLING**

 **PLEASE READ AND REVIEW/P.M. I WANT YOUR THOUGHTS**

 **ENJOY**

Chapter 11–the last term

"Harry, my boy, have a seat" Dumbledore warmly said as Harry walked into his office, "I trust the holidays treated you well?"

"Yes, sir".

Harry had been nervous about this meeting since he had returned to Hogwarts. What Lucius had said about it hadn't calmed him either. He'd been snappy the whole morning and had to run straight after Herbology to tell Professor Flitwick that he wouldn't be at Charms that day. The diminutive part goblin had frowned slightly but had nodded with a smile when Harry told him he had an appointment with the headmaster. By the time Harry arrived at Dumbledore's office, he was out of breath and had a stitch in his side. He had to pause for a few moments by the door, leaning against the wall and panting before he felt able to face the headmaster. All in all, Harry wasn't exactly in the best space of mind for a cordial meeting with a man he quite wanted to punch.

"I'm sure you had plenty of time to study?" Dumbledore said.

"Yes, Sir"

"Harry," Dumbledore said, sighing, "I have a lot I need to tell you"

' _Of course, he does. Probably about how he had my interests at heart when he dropped me on a doorstep'_

"You have experienced an inordinate amount of pain and terror in your life"

' _Really? I never knew that'_

"It has been due to my actions that you have experienced this"

' _I know that'_

"I know, Harry, that there is nothing I can say or do that will make you trust me. In fact, to be honest I do not deserve your trust"

' _Ok, that was surprisingly honest'_

"I made decisions that at the time seemed to be the wisest and most sensible courses of action. I could give excuses, but Harry, what it all boils down to is that I was tired. I was exhausted from leading a war. I was depressed due to the losses we had all suffered. And I was tired of such extreme responsibility. I chose the easy way out, Harry. I dropped you off at your relatives in the middle of the night, hoping that for them to find a baby on their doorstep would be a great push for them to take you in"

Harry was startled to see tears beginning to well up.

"What kind of people, I said to myself, would be able to cast aside a child left for their care?" Dumbledore looked positively ancient now, his face lined and haggard.

"And so, Harry, I let the matter rest. It was taken care of. You would be raised by family, loved and cared for. Even when I found you had been taken to an orphanage I consoled myself. I knew all too well how bad those places could be for a young wizard, but I simply let the matter slide. I told myself you would be well, that even though you may not be loved, you would at least be cared for"

Dumbledore took a deep breath, shuddering as he inhaled.

"I was wrong. No-one other than you could know the extent of what you have suffered, but I understand it was horrific"

' _You could definitely say that'_

"But, I will not allow the horrors you have suffered to continue. I wish to offer you something which has never been allowed to a student here for over five hundred years. Perhaps it should have been, but for good or ill it was not. If you wish, Harry, I will fight for you to be legally remanded as a ward of Hogwarts"

' _What?'_

"What does that mean, sir?"

Dumbledore looked at Harry seriously, eyes shining with unspent tears.

"It would mean, that for all legal purposes you would be adopted by Hogwarts. As Headmaster, I would be your legal guardian, but that role may be taken by Professor Snape. It would mean, that you would be permitted to remain in the castle over the summer break. You would not have to go to the orphanage, except perhaps to fetch any possessions of yours that remain there"

Harry's jaw dropped. The first thoughts that entered his head were excited ones. Thoughts of spending days at a time in the library, of wondering the castle as he pleased and discovering its secrets. Thoughts of speaking to portraits and learning of magical history from those who lived through it.

But then he remembered long days spent in the orphanage, reading on his bed. He remembered what it had been like once he made friends, and how they stopped him from being alone all day. He thought of going down to the common room at almost any time to find a game of chess or exploding snap and wondered what it would be like to see that room of life and joy empty. He couldn't choose that. Not even for something as incredibly exciting and awesome as having Hogwarts to himself. What would be with the Malfoy's invitation? Who would be there to pull him away from the library, and force him to go flying? No one. He would be alone. And Dumbledore would be in charge of him.

"I-I. Thank you sir, but"

"But none of your friends would be here," Dumbledore said with a sigh. "That is one of the reasons Hogwarts stopped accepting wards. There were too few, and it was felt it would be unhealthy for the students to be living here alone. No doubt, you have already received invitations for the summer"

"Uh. Yes, sir"

"Please know Harry, that Hogwarts will always have room for you"

"Thank you, sir"

Harry didn't show it, but he was beginning to itch to get out of that damnable office. He just wanted Dumbledore to finish already so he could go somewhere and think. Once again, Harry was finding himself unsure of how he felt about Albus Dumbledore.

"I hear you are very interested in magical theory, Harry"

' _Ok, I have no idea where this conversation is going anymore'_

"Yes, sir. I plan to take the class in my third year if I can"

"Excellent, excellent. It's an important part of your education, one which is unfortunately not very well studied. If you have any questions or thoughts that I may be able to help with, please, do not hesitate to ask me"

"Thank you, sir, but Professor Snape and Professor Quirrell have been helping me a lot with that"

Harry thought Dumbledore frowned, but it was gone a millisecond later.

' _Must've been a trick of the light'_ he thought, suddenly feeling very unsure of himself.

"Lovely. Well, anything I can do to help you, Harry, I promise I will"

"Thank you, sir". Harry felt sure that he had basically said variations of the same sentence this entire meeting, and was starting to feel a bit self-conscious. Dumbledore stood up, and Harry followed his lead.

"If you hurry, you might make your next class. Potions, I believe?"

"Yes, sir"

"And remember Harry, please come to me if you need anything at all"

Harry left the headmasters office with his mind in turmoil. He had spent the last few months feeling rage and hatred for Dumbledore, ever since he had spoken to Hagrid. Now, he was left confused. The rage was still there, simmering under the surface, but it seemed like Dumbledore just wanted to try to make things right.

' _Do I even want that? A relationship with him? He could teach me a lot'_

The thought of spending more time than he absolutely had to in the old Wizard's presence made Harry's head burn.

' _No, I don't want that. I just want him to not make my life any worse than he already has'_

' _You could always just kill him. Like you did to Mr. Roberts. Remember that Harry? What you made him do? Because you were just a dirty little-'_

Harry decided to bunk Potions. Professor Snape wouldn't be too upset, not once Harry told him that his meeting with the Headmaster made unable to think clearly.

' _Anyways, I don't need Dumbledore's teaching. The other teachers have been good enough, and Snape and Quirrell are always happy to help'_

* * *

The school was starting to get excited about the Quidditch Cup finals. Slytherin vs Gryffindor was always a fiery match, due to their intense rivalry, but this time the cup lay in the balance. Even more than that, the team which won the Quidditch cup would probably win the house cup as well. Slytherin and Gryffindor were within twenty points of each other on any given day, and the seventy-five points given for winning the Quidditch cup would ensure that whoever got it would definitely win, no matter how well the other houses did in classes. Harry privately thought it was a bit dumb, that the Quidditch cup gave house points, but he definitely wasn't going to complain. After all, the Slytherin team was far better than the Gryffindor one. Due to all the excitement, and the tensions it raised, the team started traveling in pairs and threesomes. It proved to be a good idea when someone cursed Terence Higgs, the seeker. It couldn't even definitely have been a Gryffindor, because apparently, if Slytherin lost by sixty points or more, Ravenclaw could win the cup. It didn't really matter much, Madam Pomfrey was able to remove the bushy eyebrows almost immediately, and their seeker could see again.

"When we win, the party is going to be amazing," Blaise said.

"You're feeling very confident, Blaise" Tracey responded. The girl had opened up a lot over the last few months, and would now voluntarily join in conversations.

"Of course I am. The Gryffindor beaters and keeper can match ours, but that's about it. We have better chasers and a better Seeker. We've practically already won"

Along with the Quidditch finals, exams were drawing near. All the teachers seemed to delight in taunting the students, telling them how if they fail they would not be able to go into the second year. Harry started getting a little nervous, but his fears were nothing compared to those of all the others who hadn't been putting in work throughout the year like he had.

' _It's actually pretty cool'_ Harry thought, as he was helping Pansy with her charms revision. ' _People asking me for help'._ What was also great about it, was that besides the rest of his year liking him much more and being grateful for all his help, it was actually serving as a great revision for him. He wasn't the only one helping others out, Theo and Draco were often being asked Potions questions, and Transfiguration stuff would be directed to Tracey. It did get a bit exhausting after a while. Fortunately, they found ways of dealing with that.

"We should charge for it" Tracey had said when they were all hiding from the other first-years "Five knuts a question. Rake it all in"

"We could do that. Or, we could just do it for free, and have them all owe us favors" Draco said, seeming to give it very little thought.

"Honestly, I wouldn't even mind if it just wasn't all the time. Every time I try to relax, someone is coming to ask me about it. I swear, if I have to explain what Billywig parts are good for potions one more time, I'll rip my hair out"

"That's probably Draco's fault. He sends them over to you when he wants a break" Tracey said.

"At least they're only asking you guys questions on one subject! I have to go from defense to herbology to charms"

"Well, Harry, that should teach you not to be top of the class in everything"

"Think we've left them long enough?" Draco asked.

"Yeah. Maybe we'll be lucky enough and find that they just asked a second or third year"

* * *

The day before the big Quidditch game, Harry found himself to be in the center of the spotlight. He had been leaving the Great Hall after lunch, along with the large press of students. As he was walking towards the doors to head to Herbology, he heard two voices arguing with one another.

"$ _And I'm telling you, for three hundred years you've been coiled on me. Enough is enough $"_

" _$You're coiled on me you idiot! You rat, you blame me?$"_

Looking for the source of the voices, Harry finally located them as coming from a portrait of two snakes, with their tails wound around one another. He stared at it for a second or two, trying to work out where one snake ended and the other began, and then simply addressed the Serpents, who were by now trying to bite each other, ducking and weaving from the incoming fangs.

"$ _Excuse me $"_

The two snakes stopped their squabbling and looked at Harry.

"$ _What do you want, hatchling?$"_

" _$ He probably wants to tell you that I'm right, and you should uncoil yourself from me already $"_

" _$ Why you little-$"_ The first snake struck, and narrowly missed the other one's eyes. Harry practically had to shout for them to hear him over their spitting.

"$ _STOP! You're both coiled around each other! I can't even tell whose tail is who's $"_

The snakes both stopped and looked directly at Harry. It was at this point, that Harry realized that where before there was the loud bustle of the students around him, now there was a great hush. He turned to see about twenty people staring at him. He noticed Weasley first, even though he was near the back. His freckles and red hair stood out against his pale skin. Draco, still standing next to Harry looked like he had been winded. He was paler than usual, but his eyes were bright. He was the first to recover, and he grabbed Harry by the arm and pulled him away from everyone. As they were leaving, Harry heard the entrance hall breaking out in muttered conversation.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Draco demanded, face flushing.

"Tell you what?"

' _Seriously, what the fuck is going on?'_

"That you're a Parselmouth! How could you not tell me?"

"A Parselmouth? I'm not a Parselmouth. What the hell are you talking about, Draco?"

' _Am I? Wouldn't I know?'_

Draco just gaped at him. He spluttered, trying to speak, and eventually managed. "Harry, you just spoke to two snakes in front of everyone! Of course, you're a bloody Parselmouth!"

Harry had to laugh. This was just too ridiculous.

"Draco, they're in a damned portrait! There's a picture of a unicorn on the fourth floor that I've spoken to a few times. Does that make me a-a-Equestrimouth?"

"Harry," Draco said weakly, shaking his head, "Everyone's spoken to that Unicorn. But no-one's spoken to those snakes. We could just hear them hissing. They weren't speaking English."

' _No way. This has to be some sort of joke'_

"Draco, I think I would know if I was a Parselmouth. And I'm sure I would know if I started speaking a different language"

Draco goggled at him. "You really mean it, don't you? You think we're pranking you?"

Harry thought of the crowd that had been staring at him.

"Well, not really, but maybe there's an enchantment on that painting or something?"

"Then why could none of us understand it?"

' _No freaking way'_

"I-I don't know"

"You're a Parselmouth, Harry," Draco said, excitement shining on his face now. "This is so cool. Of course, you were put in Slytherin, how could a Parselmouth be put anywhere else?"

"But, my family has always been Gryffindor. Isn't being a Parselmouth an inherited thing?"

Draco frowned. "Who knows? But it's really rare, that's for sure"

Becoming known as a Parselmouth made Harry the center of attention. People would mutter and point at him when he walked through the Castle. Even within Slytherin, he was a focus. When he went back to the Common Room after supper, Peter Langton, a burly fourth year had confronted Harry. The older boy conjured a snake, and Harry was forced to tell it to do all sorts of things before Peter vanished it. In Slytherin, it was ok. Harry was given a sort of begrudging respect. Outside though, people had taken to hissing at him as he walked the corridors. The Weasley twins cast some spell on him that made it look like he had crazy, elongated teeth. He hadn't even known until he walked past a mirror. It seemed like everyone in Hogwarts found out overnight. Harry would have felt quite alone, if not for his friends. Draco seemed to take great pleasure in being best friends with a Parselmouth. After assuring Harry that there was a book on talking to animals at the Malfoy's house, and he was sure there would be stuff on Parselmouths in that, he had taken to peppering Harry with questions about it, which was actually starting to get on his nerves.

"No, Draco, I don't think I can teach you to speak it. Hell, I didn't even know I was speaking it. Can we just leave it, please? At least until I've learned more about it?"

"Fine, Harry. But you need to get yourself a pet snake. Think of how awesome that could be!"

Draco's enthusiasm wasn't everyone's reaction, even in Slytherin. Blaise simply acted as if nothing had happened, and Theo and the girls seemed to be a bit _wary_ of Harry, even though they all said how great it was.

' _Fantastic. Now the people in my own house think I'm a dark wizard, just because I can talk to snakes, like the Dark Lord'_

But life at Hogwarts went on as normal, revelations about Harry or not. The Quidditch game was incredible. It was simply the quickest thing Harry had ever seen. It was over in under three minutes, with Slytherin crushing Gryffindor in a whopping 160 points to zero. As Blaise had predicted, the party in the common room was wild. Someone had smuggled in some firewhiskey, and soon a lot of the older grades were rather drunk. Harry had a little sip, a fifth year had given him a cup with a slurred "Shomething to drink for the shnaketalker". It burned his throat and made him feel quite lightheaded. He gave it to Theo instead, who ended the night curled over the toilet.

The exams began, and Harry felt good about them. His studying throughout the year had really paid off. He felt like he was simply breezing through them, and was quite surprised when they finished so soon.

And before he knew it, the year's end was almost upon them. They had plenty of free time, and Harry spent it trying to learn that spell Peter had used. He wanted to test out his Parselmouth abilities.

The next thing he knew, Harry was packing his trunk and getting ready for the end of year feast that night. He had gotten his exam results back and had predictably enough done well. He's gotten either Outstanding or Exceeds Expectations in everything except Herbology. He's gotten an Acceptable in that, but he'd thought that was coming. After all, he had kind of screwed up in the practical. It was when he went down into the common room after he finished packing his trunk that he heard something that quite upset him.

"Well, I wonder who will be teaching Defence next year"

"Why?" Harry said, interrupting the third year who was talking. Steven something or other, "What's wrong with Quirrell?"

Steven looked at Harry with a kind of disdain for a second, then his face changed into a semi-respectful look. It was an expression Harry had gotten used to seeing on the faces of older Slytherin sever since he had spoken Parseltongue. The look translated into something like 'we respect you for your gifts, but you're still just a first-year'.

"The position is cursed. No one's lasted more than a year for like, twenty years or something. But anyway" the boy continued "I heard Snape saying something about how Quirrell was gonna go on another sabbatical"

"What? Why?"

"Who knows?. Maybe next year we'll have a teacher who isn't a stuttering mess. Although Quirrell is still better than last year's guy. I tell you, Professor Knocklet was-"

But Harry didn't find out what exactly Professor Knocklet was. He left the common room in a hurry, heading to Professor Quirrell's office.

"Sir, why do you have to go? You've taught me so much"

"Well Harry," Quirrell said, speaking without looking behind him as he packed his books, "I feel the need for a break from educating, and a chance to educate myself further"

Harry no-longer thought it odd that Quirrell didn't stutter when speaking to him. In fact, he didn't think about that fact at all.

"But who will take your place? It might be someone terrible"

' _It might be someone who has no time to answer any of my questions either'_

"Harry, I am sure whoever the headmaster chooses will do an admirable job"

"I'm not. I've heard there has been terrible teachers before"

"Even so, one must think about their own needs before the needs of others. I need to leave, for my own growth"

' _Sounds like he's been reading Lucius' philosophy book'_

"Harry, I expect great, great things from you. I assure you, we will meet again. Just remember, magic knows no good nor evil. Only power, and those with the strength to wield it"

Harry walked down to the feast with Draco and Blaise. Everyone else would be heading down on their own, once they had finished their own packing. In best tradition, they had all left their packing until the last minute. They walked into the Great Hall, and Harry couldn't help but smile at the decor. Everything was in the Slytherin colors, and there giant Slytherin banners hanging on the wall.

"Seventh year in a row," Draco said with a huge smile on his face. "Look at Snape's face, never seen him this happy before"

"At least in public" Harry commented. "He's shown us all a smile before"

"Yes, But we're Slytherins," Blaise said, "it's different for us"

They say at their usual seats and started eating. Unlike the other feasts they had, the food was already there. They didn't have to wait for any specific thing to happen before they could eat.

It didn't take long from when they sat until Dumbledore arrived. By then, everyone was at the feast and had started eating and talking and having fun. The Slytherin table was by far the most raucous, but everyone seemed to be having fun. When Dumbledore arrived, he walked straight to the podium, stretched out his arms in an enveloping gesture, and began to speak.

"Another year gone!" He said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully, your heads are all a little fuller than they were... you have the whole summer ahead to get

them nice and empty before next year starts..."

"Firstly, I would like to extend a farewell to Professor Quirinus Quirrell, who is leaving us for a year of sabbatical and self-education. We wish him only the best, and hope to see him again when he decides to return to the world of teaching"

There was a round of weak applause, although Harry did clap until his hands started to ache.

"Now, as I understand it, the house cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two point, in third, Gryffindor, with three hundred and ninety-eight; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy- two."

There was general applause from the hall as a whole, but the Slytherin table let out an explosion of joyous noise. Draco was banging his goblet on the table, Daphne was whooping, and Harry just sat with an enormous grin on his face.

"Well done, Slytherin. Well done indeed"

And then they were off, on the train, heading back away from Hogwarts. Harry would be going with Lucius to the orphanage, where Lucius would Confund Mrs. Spruce into thinking that it's normal for Harry not to be there over the summer, and then it would be off to the Malfoy's.

"So Harry," Daphne asked, "how has your first year back home been?"

"Home?" Crabbe grunted, confuses as usual.

"She means in the world of magic," Draco said. "Right?"

"Of course"

Harry looked around, at a group of friends he had made. He looked at the people he felt comfortable with, people who did not think him a freak or a weirdo. He thought of the magic he had learned, and how Draco said that even though they weren't supposed to, they would be allowed to practice magic, supervised of course, in the Malfoy's home.

"It's been the best year of my life," he said with a smile.

And all in all, it had.

 **AAAW. WASN'T THAT JUST HEARTWARMING.**

 **EPILOGUE COMING UP SHORTLY, THEN ON TO THE SEQUEL, HARRY POTTER AND SALAZAR'S LEGACY.**

 **REMINDER TO ADD ME TO AUTHOR ALERTS OR WHATEVER THAT THING IS CALLED. THE SEQUEL WILL BE POSTED AS A SEPARATE DOC, SO THIS IS THE WAY TO GO IF YOU WANT TO KNOW AS SOON AS IT BEGINS.**

 **I WARN YOU ALL THOUGH. THE ESCALATION IS SLOW, BUT BY THE END OF NEXT YEAR HARRY WILL BE WELL ON THE WAY TO BEING A TRULY DARK, EVIL CHARACTER.**

 **AS ALWAYS, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW.**


	16. Epilogue

**AN: I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW AND P.M. ME.**

 **REMINDER TO ADD ME TO AUTHOR ALERTS, SO YOU CAN SEE ONCE THE SEQUEL STARTS GETTING POSTED. WILL POSSIBLY HAPPEN SOMETIME THIS WEEK, OTHERWISE NEXT WEEK.**

 **SOUNDTRACK TO THIS CHAPTER: NILE-YEZD DESERT GHUL RITUAL IN THE ABANDONED TOWERS OF SILENCE; NILE—KHETTI SATHA SHEMSU; MELECHESH—THE SCRIBES OF KUR**

 **ENJOY!**

Epilogue—Born under the stars

Quirinus Quirrell stood straight in the graveyard, starlight piercing through the fog.

"Remember" a high pitched voice came, causing shudders to run down his back, "You will faint when I leave. Everything must be prepared beforehand"

' _How did I get to this?'_

"Yes, master"

' _What became of that young Ravenclaw, who was so praised for his talent?_ _Am I really going to unleash this upon the world again?'_

"Time runs short. It is too late for second thoughts. Jupiter rises"

His master spoke again, something Quirrel couldn't make out, and a chanting noise seemed to arise from the very ground. Low pitched and full of malice, his stomach turned at the noise. He walked forwards towards the cauldron waiting for its final ingredients.

The fog swirled up from the ground, mixing with the steam from the cauldron. The sparks made pinpricks in it, casting grotesque colors upon the abomination hovering above the bubbling mixture.

Quirrell tried not to look at the misshapen homunculus, but his eyes were drawn to it. His master needed a rudimentary body for the ritual to succeed, but this thing was horrific.

The chanting voices seemed to reach a fever pitch, and his master's voice spoke again. "Begin".

Quirrell pointed his wand at the grave behind the cauldron.

' _DON'T DO THIS! RUN AWAY'_

"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!"

Dust rose from the grave and collected itself in a neat pile above the body his master would soon inhabit.

Ignoring his screaming mind, Quirrell continued.

"Flesh of the servant, willingly given, you will revive your master"

For a second, his wand arm was lead. He felt mindless panic begin and pushed with all his might. Then—

Pain. Overbearing, overwhelming pain. He watched, with teary eyes as his left arm, all the way to the elbow, flew to rest above the dust.

He almost couldn't think, he just wanted to curl up in a ball and weep, curling his crippled limb to himself. A spasm flew through his head, as his master reminded him of his purpose here.

"Bl-blood of the enemy" he intoned, reaching into his robes and pulling out a stoppered vial, "forcibly taken, you w-w-will resurrect your foe"

The

* * *

blood streamed out of the vial and went to join his hand.

His hand. ' _what have I done'_

And then, he felt pain so great that his missing arm was but a scrape compared to it. Quirinus Quirrell screamed as his master left him and then knew no more.

Lord Voldemort arose from the cauldron.

"It is good to have a body again"

He ran his long fingers over his arms and chest, ran them up his face. He looked up at the sky and laughed a terrible sound.

He stepped over to the prone body of Quirrell. "You were a useful fool. It is a pity you could not survive my leaving"

Rummaging through Quirrell's robes, he pulled out his wand.

' _Yew and Phoenix Feather. 13 and a half inches. My truest friend. Truly, having Quirrell rescue you from the Unspeakables was an act of kindness, not only for myself'_

Raising the wand to his lips, he kissed it lovingly.

"You have Lord Voldemort's gratitude," He told the corpse before him, as he vanished it.

Conjuring himself some robes, he set about removing all evidence of his having been there.

' _Innsmouth or Dunwhich? Both safe-houses are still in livable condition. Innsmouth is closer to wizarding areas, will make my tasks easier. Innsmouth it is'_

As the newly revived Lord Voldemort was about to Apparate away, he chuckled to himself. "We shall see how much longer Harry Potter is my enemy for"

 **AND HE'S BACK.**

 **AS ALWAYS, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW.**

 **STAY TUNED FOR THE SEQUEL. HARRY POTTER AND SALAZAR'S LEGACY.**

 **PEACE**


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